No Good Deed
by Blade Redwind
Summary: It wasn't love. She did it because in that moment they had known the same pain. Raising a child she never planned on, Sakura tries find a way to prove Uchiha Itachi was not the man Konoha, Sasuke, believed him to be. She'll do it even if she has to alone.
1. Prologue

**No Good Deed**

"_The phrase __**No good deed goes unpunished**__ is usually used as a sardonic announcement that the good deed you have done will be followed by bad results for yourself. In other words, life is not fair and you will not be rewarded for your good deeds, but rather you will be punished for them." – Wikipedia_

…

**.**

…

Prologue

_Emerald hues locked on his face; she felt herself still as she allowed her eyes to trace along his kohl lashes. Behind them lay hidden eyes the color black sin. His breaths were shallow, proven only by the slow rise and fall of his chest. Medical training instilled within her indicated his lung capacity was at sixty percent... maybe less._

_His hair was long, tied back carelessly in a quick ribbon of deep crimson. Bangs brushed his features as if to kiss him. Robes of black and blood red clouds covered him like a slow poison, agonizing him even as he slept. Age lines tugged below his eyes; he needed more than sleep; he needed a lifetime of rest._

_She knew._

_She felt herself stand, walking across the arch of their rocky prison, the same one that kept them from leaving, acting, fighting back because of the nature of the earthen material keeping their abilities at bay._

_She settled herself in a straddle across his lap and held her breath as she waited, watching, searching his face and his reaction._

_Nothing._

_For a while she just stared at him; she wondered if she did it because she wasn't entirely confident, or, because she wanted to remember the serenity in what he couldn't express while he was awake. Years later when she looked back on this moment she somehow knew she wouldn't know the answer then._

_Her hand shook as she reached up, calling on courage she knew she had to possess. Her eyes remained fixed on his features as she drew in closer, cautiously. She exhaled slowly as his warmth finally seeped in through her palm. She nearly jumped as coal-black met with sea-green._

_Silence._

_She didn't say anything as she stared into those deep, endless pools of pitch. Her throat caught and she had to tell herself to breathe. She found herself forcing herself to do what she'd expected of herself the moment she'd moved to stand._

_She kissed him._

_Her lips pressed into his; she felt her breath become as shallow as his was, she felt the warmth of his chest as she pressed into him, she felt the electricity of the moment draw from within her a cataclysm of feelings she couldn't quite fathom the idea of battling just then._

_His hands were on her upper arms; he was pulling her away; her eyes opened; pitch connected with emerald; breaths were broken and caught._

"_You love Sasuke," he stated, eyes scrutinizing even as she felt him hold back what he wanted, what he hadn't allowed himself for a lifetime._

"_I do," she found herself saying between broken breaths._

_The question was unspoken; he didn't need to ask why._

_Her eyes closed briefly; emerald reconnected with pitch. Her hands pressed flat against the stone behind him. She thought back to the last week they'd spent together, questioning herself. Was she in love with him?_

_No._

_Did she love him? Yes. Was it enough?_

…_Yes._

"_I want to be what you need," she whispered like a determined plea, hands half clenching, eyes locked on his. In the heat of the moment if felt right; it felt like she needed to be the one that gave him what he needed even if she didn't fully understand it herself._

_His lips pressed into hers, strong and persistent, yet soft and unquenchable in the moment. She undid the tie that bound his hair, wanting to feel it unbound through her fingers; she pulled at his clothes even as he pulled at hers. They were bare to each other; in the wake of what had already been revealed it paled in comparison._

_His hands were soft and his caress was light. When he looked at her she saw what he couldn't say, she felt what he didn't want to remember and she physically drew from him the regret he wanted washed away. Memories, she recalled him saying at that moment, had a way of killing you slowly. Looking at him, feeling him, breathing him in, she believed it._

_No, she realized, she knew it._

_She felt him wrap, weave, himself into her. He soaked her in like a barren river crying for rain, for a monsoon. She never said anything of the tears on her shoulder or the ache she felt reflected in his chakra; when she finally cried her fears and regrets into his bare chest, her hands gripping him like a vice as he grasped her, she realized something._

_At that moment, he had been what she needed as well._

**...**

**.**

**...**

One week and two days later…

"_Here…"_

_Sakura nearly jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice next to her; even so, her eyes did flash to his with surprise. Slowly, her features softened away into a wan smile and she looked down at the styrofoam cup in his hands."Thank you," she whispered as she took it. She sipped from it and turned back to the window looking in on the hospital room._

"_Why don't you go in?" he asked._

"_He's asleep," she replied, her eyes fixed on the face beyond the glass, serene and softened. His breath was slow, indicating he was actually asleep… at least to her._

_Naruto nodded next to her as he looked in as well, hands dug into his pockets._

_Silence passed on between them for a while. She was actually a little surprised by it; Naruto was always so outspoken. If he was being quiet then something was wrong, or, on his mind._

_She wondered… "Are you angry at me?"_

_He blinked, looking over at her. "For?"_

_She frowned only a little, her eyes locked on his. "For finding him first and bringing him home."_

_Naruto looked shocked, disbelieving even before he gave her a curious grin. "No, never. Why would you think that?"_

"_I dunno, I did it without you."_

_Naruto sighed. "It's not a contest, Sak." He looked over at the dark-haired male behind the glass. "I'm not mad at you; I think…if anything, I'm in shock. I didn't really expect it to be so easy… One minute you were there, with us in the woods while we were on his trail and the next you were gone. Then, a week and half later you're back, Sasuke's back, Itachi's dead and the big mission to save him is over._

"_I'm just worried… I'm going to wake up."_

_She looked over at him, eyes transfixed on his features as he spoke. She nodded when he was done and looked back at their team mate. "It's not a dream, Naruto. He's back. A little worse for wear, but… he's back… he's home."_

"_And Itachi's dead," he said as if confirming the fact for himself; with Itachi gone Sasuke no longer had a reason to leave._

_She nodded. Her voice was distant. "Yes, Naruto… Itachi's dead."_

…

**.**

…

Two months later…

"_Is that all, Tsunade-sama?"_

_Tsunade nodded. "Yes, Shizune. You may go."_

_The dark haired assistant nodded at her. As she left her eyes briefly touched on Sakura, softening in concern before she slipped out._

"_You wanted to speak with me?" Sakura asked as she stood at the front of her teacher's desk._

_The blonde nodded as she put a stack of paper work away and opened a drawer. "I'm sure you're aware as to why; it doesn't take a genius such as yourself to figure out why I've had this room sealed for privacy."_

_Sakura nodded._

_She set a bottle of sake and a cup on the desk, stilling as her gaze rested on Sakura. "Is it true?"_

_Sakura visibly paused._

"_You know I would be fully within my rights as not only the Hokage but, the director of the hospital if I looked into your file to find out for myself."_

_She knew. "There's no need for that, Shishou. I…" She closed her eyes and looked up at her, hands clasped to her front as if she had nothing better to do with them. "…it's true."_

"_Were you raped?"_

_Slowly, she shook her head. "…No."_

_Silence._

"_Shishou—."_

"_Sakura do you realize what you've done?" She wasn't yelling, but, Sakura could hear the disbelief in her voice. "Do you realize what kind of position you've placed yourself in if anyone outside of the hospital were to confirm this information?_

"_Never mind what the elders will say, but, what about Sasuke? The man murdered his family, his clan, his mother and father… children. Why would you…willingly—."_

"_Shishou, I understand that—."_

"_I don't think you do," she replied, moving to stand so that her eye level matched Sakura's. Amber-brown hues were narrowed; her eyes shifted back and forth as if reading her student's. "He killed his own people; he betrayed this village." Her hand slammed on to the desk, palm flat as if to emphasize her point. "What Uchiha Itachi represents to people here is nothing good. _Nothing _good can come of this and now you're just over two months pregnant with his child. One nurse couldn't keep her mouth shut and now people are _talking_. What do you intend to _do_, Sakura?_

"_Give it up?"_

"_No."_

_Tsunade opened her mouth to speak again. Sakura could see another lecture coming._

"_Shishou," she cut in quickly as she pressed her hands to chest. "I know you're upset. I _realize_ that; I do. But, if you would only hear me out…"_

"_What reason could you possibly have for willingly becoming a momentary consort to a man who was once considered the most bloodthirsty traitor of this village, this country?"_

_Sakura felt her chest tighten at those words and she wondered, briefly, if she was going to lose this fight. She bit her lip and sighed, desperation wearing at her. "Do you trust me, Shishou? You always have. You've always told me that, aside from Shizune's, it was my judgment you favored most. Has that changed now?"_

_There was a long, hard silence after that. Sakura wanted to pull her gaze away under the heat of disappointment, concern and fear quaking in her teacher's eyes; however, it was her life lessons that kept her from doing so despite the hammering in her chest._

"_No," she finally whispered as she slumped back into her chair, eyes closed and her hand wearily resting on her temple._

"_Then… what would you say if I told you I had a way to prove that Uchiha Itachi was not the man we were all led to believe?"_

…

**.**

…

A few hours later; midnight…

_The door shut behind her; the sound clicked softly in the darkened silence of her one bedroom apartment. She dropped her keys on the small table there and slipped her sandals off in exchange for slippers. She stilled as she reached for the light, stopping only a moment as her eyes locked on the black before her._

_She switched the light on._

_Pitch met with emerald._

"_Sasuke."_

_He didn't say anything; he just stared at her, his eyes narrowed and unrevealing. She could see a vein along his jaw twitching; she could feel the tension in the air—unspoken. For a moment, she was almost as afraid of him as she had been that day he'd threatened Naruto with his Kusanagi. She resisted the urge to swallow and held fast, keeping her gaze locked on his._

_She knew why he was here; he didn't have to ask, but, he would anyway. This fact was only emphasized by the obvious draw of his depths to her stomach._

"_Is it true?" he asked, voice poised as ever._

_She felt defensive under his scrutiny and responded thusly. "Is what true?"_

_She saw his jaw tighten; his eyes visibly narrowed further. "Are you carrying my brother's child?"_

_She stilled a moment._

"_Sakura."_

_She closed her eyes and looked away; she couldn't lie to him. Even if he never knew why, he had a right to know the truth. "…Yes."_

_Silence._

_She looked up to an empty apartment and to the sound of the door clicking behind her. She stared where he had been standing, her eyes shaking as the events of the day settled upon her. She leaned her shoulder into the wall and slowly slid to the floor._

_In the quiet of her space she finally allowed herself crumble._

**ooo**

**AN ::** So, I'm not really sure what to say other than… what do you think?

—Blade


	2. Chapter 1

.

* * *

_The breeze was cool on her face as she pushed through a tangle of bushes; bright green hues scanned the uneven, rocky surface half laden with grass beneath her feet as she brushed a few strands of pink away from her brow. She gave a soft sigh, thinking perhaps she'd gone too far for one herb. It was Naruto's own fault for eating berries he should have asked about anyway. She resisted the urge to grumble as she moved into the clearing. She—_

_Froze._

_Emerald green connected with crimson-ebony._

_Tomoe swirled._

_Her chest tightened; hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She heard her own heartbeat in her ears, telling her to move her legs. Her breath caught and she wondered if he'd already captured her in the illusion; she couldn't rip her gaze away from his anymore than she could move her legs._

_She swallowed._

_There was no way she was surviving this; not on a whim, not without her team. Oh Kami, why did she insist on going alone? She should have brought Naruto; there were four of them. How could she have been so stupid?_

_He took a step forward and she felt her insides jump. He stopped moving then and looked at the ground. Then she felt her insides jump again; no, wait, that wasn't her…_

_She blinked as she looked down; the ground cracked and began to crumble. She heard herself curse as she tried to back away and run from the swallowing tumble of earthen debris. All she could see was the world above her, the sky, slowly receding just before everything went black…_

* * *

Chapter One

"Son of a traitor's whore. That's what my mom calls your mom; a whore."

It wasn't the first time he'd heard those words, and, he was certain it wouldn't be the last. Plenty of kids said it; hell, plenty of parents said it, though, a lot of them thought they said it quietly enough that he couldn't hear them. For twelve year old Haruno Isao though, it was just another day after classes let out at the Academy in Konoha.

Languidly, he turned to face him slightly, bright green eyes scrutinizing Nara Setsuna. "Does she?" he asked, his voice light.

A couple other students around him laughed.

"Yeah," Setsuna replied, smirking. "What's it to ya?"

Isao grinned."Well if that's true then my mom could give yours a few lessons. I hear she needs 'em what with your dad skipping out three four nights a week to the red light district." He reached up and brushed a few strands of his shoulder-length black hair out of his eyes. "I'd give you the address, but, I'm sure you can get it off your old man. Make sure you let him know my mom's sick of him howling at her window for something she ain't gonna give him, yeah?" With that he gave him a two finger salute, shoved his hands in his pants and sauntered off. The grin was firmly in place for another thirty seconds or so.

"Isao."

He found he was suddenly staring into the chest of a man covered in a green flack vest and a blue Jounin shirt. Slowly, his eyes traveled up, although, he didn't need to look at his face to know who it was.

Isao's grin turned into a smirk. "Yo, Sasuke-ojisan."

He didn't look amused, but, his eyes only lingered on him a moment before drawing up and towards the boys behind him. He watched as they narrowed and slowly shifted into the red and black of the tomoe he'd come to envy in a way.

He turned around just as the kids were scattering, saying (nervously) that they had better things to do than stick around the Academy front gate after classes. "You know, if a chick had been watching you would have completely stolen my thunder… not cool." He looked up at him through long kohl lashes, his expression one of mock irritation.

Sasuke barely offered a grunt in response. "Come on." He didn't wait for him to reply, or, to catch up as he turned and walked away.

It didn't take much convincing for him to fall in step next to him. After all, the day was nice and warm; the white, gauze, long sleeved shirt he wore felt airy and comfortable; the loose black pants that dropped just below his knee were a lot better than the shorts he'd been wearing during the summer; and, his hair had finally gotten long enough to tie back if he felt like it, as he did today. He didn't really have any reason to argue with anyone, much less his uncle. And hell, a little prick like Nara Setsuna certainly wasn't going to put a black mark in his mood.

"So," he asked, trying to start a conversation, "when do I get them?"

"Get what?"

Isao frowned and moved to walk backwards in front of Sasuke. He pointed to his own eyes. "You know, the eyes," he explained, trying to sound serious, "the ones that gets all the girls to trail after you like an Inuzuka in breeding season."

Sasuke just stared at him, lips a flat line.

Isao cocked a slanted grin. "Aw, come on, you know it's the Sharingan that does it, right? Don't get me wrong, you got the looks and the whole tormented badass theme going on that girls just die for, but, really, it's the eyes. That's what reels 'em in." He was looking very sure of his conclusion as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Isao."

"Yeah?"

"Cart."

"Hm?" He raised a brow as his uncle pointed behind him and stopped. He didn't look however; instead, he just infused the soles of his feet with chakra and flipped over the obstacle he'd known to have been in his way long before Sasuke had said anything. He waited for his to uncle walk around the cart and continued going on in much the same fashion as before.

"So, the eyes?" he asked, brows raised as they headed up the hill that was in the direction of the residency zone of Konoha.

He sighed. "Why are you so interested in women? I would think you would be more concerned with becoming a Genin; the test is next week."

"Why are you so _uninterested_ in them?"

Sasuke frowned at that assessment. "Who says I am?"

At this the younger male barked laughter. "Oh, uncle, do you really want me outlining all the ways you avoid the opposite sex? Really?"

"Would you like me to outline all the ways your Katon needs improvement?"

At this he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Jutsus are nice, but, girls smell prettier and they're much more fun to talk to. Which gives me an extra foot in the door with them since most of the guys in my age group right now are on this whole, I've gotta be the best damn ninja out there high." He shrugged. "I'm not worried, because, the dogs that bark the loudest bite the softest."

Sasuke let out a long irritated sigh, scowling slightly. "You've been spending time with Kakashi."

"Duh. Boss perv has the best taste in books."

Sasuke had half a mind to ask him if his former sensei had been allowing him to read them, but, knew better. There wasn't much chance of him telling the truth either way.

**...**

**.**

**...**

"Another dead end." She tossed a file onto the fray in front of her where there were two—daringly—twelve inch high stacks of the same thing. Next to her, on the floor, was a box; it was nearly empty with only one file remaining. Honestly, who was she kidding through? What were the chances that the last file in the bin was what she needed?

She sighed as she sat back into the comfort of her couch and closed her eyes, stack momentarily forgotten on the coffee table before her. She'd gone into work a whole hour earlier this morning for this, for another box of nothing… She sighed and berated herself for _berating_ herself. Her eyes shifted open and she stared at her own ceiling.

Might as well look at the last file.

She sat up, letting out a half-hearted grumble as manicured-pink nails reached for the vanilla folder. She flipped it open, green orbs scanning the lines quietly, lazily. It was just another name, just another record of some woman, of some married woman, her… her eyes blinked, then narrowed and flickered as her lips drew into a tightened line. She flipped a page in the file and her eyes moved quicker across the written text.

"Okasan, I'm home! Sasuke-ojisan decided to come with."

Sakura all but snapped the file in her hands shut. In a matter of what appeared to be mere moments she'd managed to somehow put almost all of them back into the box, clearing her coffee table and identifiably hiding her work. By the time the both of them were stepping into the living room, however, she was putting away the final folder; the image it painted was completely natural.

"Working at home again?" she heard Isao ask. It wasn't the first time he'd come across her with a box, or, a stack of files at home. She always told him it was work. It was.

She smiled brightly at him after she closed the cardboard lid. "I was. It's nothing that can't wait until later." She reached out as he came forward and embraced him in a quick hug. Her eyes briefly traveled up to obsidian orbs, connecting. Green hues replaced these as Isao pulled away and stepped back.

"I've got an assignment I need to work on due tomorrow. After that, some kunai and jutsu practice; they gave us a list of what we might be tested for on the final next week, so, I want to make sure it's all to par."

Sakura nodded. "That sounds like a good plan then. I'll give you my full attention on the day before the test."

"You'll run through the chakra control exercise with me on Wednesday after work?"

"I will. Not that you should be worried," she replied as she stood up and looked down at him. She ruffled his black strands, which made him pout only a little. "You've always been very good at that."

"Just like his mother," Sasuke offered smoothly.

She looked up at him as she dropped her hand from Isao's head, a single brow raised.

"Well, I'm off. I've got a little daylight to burn before I start on my assignment." Without much else Isao was disappearing around the corner and more than likely to the back yard to practice.

"You're still in uniform," Sasuke idly commented once he was gone.

Sakura looked down at herself, realizing yes, he was right; she was still in her lab coat and comfortable scrubs. She shrugged. "I had to run a few interns through a surgery process today; I guess I just forgot to change before I left.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked as she walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. She opened the door to the fridge, eyeballing some of the contents, noting she'd have to make a grocery run tomorrow or Isao wouldn't have anything for after school or lunch; not that he needed it, she was sure; he always seemed to have an ever flowing run of money from whatever he saved… or gambled from other kids. She'd reprimand him for it… if she ever caught him.

"No, but thank you," she heard him reply behind her from where he leaned back into the counter.

An island for cutting and prepping separated them as she poured herself a cup of orange juice. She took a brief sniff of it before drinking; an old and good habit, not that all drugs could be smelled and not that she needed to worry about something she poured for herself in her own home.

When she set it back down she looked over at him, eyes locked on his features. Her hands half pressed into the wood block counter of the island as the front of her waist leaned into it. Even after all the time that had passed between them she still couldn't look at him without feeling a stir somewhere. She was too old to deny it anymore and too young to talk about it out loud. Most days she just wished it would go away.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Something meaning Isao, because the only reason he ever came here was on business, or, with Naruto. Sasuke never just spent time with her.

He crossed his arms over his chest slowly and shifted on his feet, looking to get comfortable before he started on whatever he wanted to say. "Do you know the boys at the Academy pick on him on a daily basis?"

"I would imagine so," she replied, nonpulsed.

"And you're not bothered?"

She took in a deep breath and exhaled. She could feel the conversation coming. It was only a matter of moments before it somehow turned in that direction. "What do you expect me to do, Sasuke? Every child gets picked on for one reason or another in school, be it a shinobi school or a civilian one. For me it was my forehead, for Naruto it was his drop-dead last antics and for you it was the jealousy of other children. It's not about the cards you're dealt, it's how you handle them."

"I wasn't aware it was such an ongoing problem until recently." He looked to the side.

"It's not." She swirled the juice in her hand, eyes drifting to the spiraling orange. "Isao handles it admirably." She smiled briefly." Not like I did, anyway."

"He shouldn't have to."

Sakura stilled.

"Sakura…"

She set the glass down; plastic clinked against wood. She resisted the urge to sigh. Her voice was collected. "What, Sasuke?"

"How long do you plan to keep this up?" Obsidian touched on her, narrowed. "How long do you plan on keeping my nephew in the dark about his father?"

She smiled tightly. "What you mean to say is, how long do I plan on keeping _you_ in the dark." She leveled her gaze on his. "I don't have to explain myself to you, or anyone else for that matter."

Sasuke came forward and slammed his hands onto the island, dark depths infused with angry energy just barely laden under the surface. As he stared at her, the same tension in her eyes just reflecting into his, a silence passed on. It was always the same impasse; different day, but, same conversation.

She ignored the chord in her heart, pulling tight at her throat as she did her best not to drown in the black abyss that was his, that had been his brother's.

The same question was there, the same one that had been there for over twelve years: Why did you do it? Why did you do it to _me_? And the same answer was always on the edge of her tongue: Because, he wasn't who you thought he was, what anyone _still_ thinks he was.

"He has a right to know." _I do._

_I know. Just give me a little more time._ She sighed and closed her eyes; she was the first one to break eye contact this time. "…Are you staying for dinner? Isao would like it if you did."

As he pulled away from the island the tension, the tightness in his arms and neck was still visibly obvious. "…I'll be back by later then." His eyes shut briefly before he turned away slowly and headed in the direction of the front door.

She nodded as he drifted out of sight. It wasn't for a few minutes more that she did anything but stare at her drink on the counter in front of her, eyes soft and filled with unspoken thoughts. Quietly, she downed it and went back to the living room, mind set on the file in the box. She had a little more reading to do before she started dinner.

**...**

**.**

**...**

The screen door slid shut behind him with a resounding click as he continued on his way down the wooden stairs. His steps weren't harried, but, they weren't slow either. He felt himself exhale lowly through his nose as he tried to get rid of the brewing chakra he felt coiling in his chest.

She shouldn't make him so angry, but, she did; she always did. Half the time he didn't know if he should hate her or… He didn't hate her; no, what Uchiha Sasuke felt in regards to Haruno Sakura wasn't hate, but, he wasn't in love with her either. That's what he told himself as he opened the gate at the end of her front yard and walked out.

He wanted to. He wanted to love her. The years of telling himself she wasn't beautiful, that he didn't feel a sense of jealousy every time some guy eyeballed her, or that it wasn't a rise of anger he felt when someone talked about her badly were behind him. He had once told himself he hated her for what she'd done, that _that_ was enough for him to go on treating her as if she hardly mattered. He tried to hold onto that emotion and had failed miserably once Isao came along. Then he'd just used the boy as an excuse to come around; he still did.

He liked to imagine she had a reason for what she'd done with his brother; and, he wasn't childish enough to think it was all about him anymore. At sixteen Sakura had been a level-headed girl; she certainly wasn't the type of kunoichi to sleep with an S-class criminal for the hell of it.

As a younger man he hadn't known what to think and had allowed his anger to breed other answers for him.

Now… He closed his eyes and looked up at the cloud-laden sky between the tree boughs. Now he just wanted her; he wanted her with him in every way she would allow him to consume.

Problem was… she wasn't letting _anyone_ in.

And Sasuke didn't know how much longer he could go on knocking.

**AN :: **I'm really, really happy with a lot of the responses I've been getting about this story. Normally, it's in my nature as an ff writer to reveal things about the story I shouldn't to my readers, or, just some of them through inquisitive PM. However, considering the _nature_ of this fic, I'm going to have hold off that sort of spoiling altogether xD.

I will tell you, however, for those of you curious about the Sasuke I've written, that this story does take place 12 years after the beginning of Shippuden; which means our resident Uchiha has had some time to figure things out. Most of you will have already realized this through the context of the story, but, some of us overlook things while reading with enthusiasm -smiles-. Anyway, much love guys. Feel free to ask me any questions. Reviews are always responded to.

—**Blade**


	3. Chapter 2

.

* * *

_There was darkness. She felt cold; the hard surface beneath her was cold on her thighs. The air felt stagnant and heavy on her lungs. She moved to open her eyes, but, the action was sluggish; her vision hazy as she tried to focus on the series of blurs around her in the room. There were bits of tiny blue light… veins of it. Slowly, she blinked, focusing, unfocusing and refocusing. She coughed and brought her hand up to stifle it, half curving over and inadvertently forcing her back to press further into the wall behind her. When she opened her eyes again there were no blurs; her thighs were clearly visible in her direct line of vision._

_What… what had she been doing?_

_She winced as she lifted her other hand to brush her face; her wrist ached with pain almost instantly. "Damnit." Natural reaction persuaded her to lift her other hand and cover her wrist as she began to pull blue healing chakra to the area._

"_That's not going to work very well."_

_She jumped as a voice echoed in the dark, barely lit, cavernous room. Her eyes immediately cut through the shadows to the other side and landed on the only other human presence._

_Itachi._

_Then it all came back to her; her mind swiftly drilled through a series of quick memories until she knew exactly why she was here. Within seconds her guard went up and she nearly forgot about the healing energy she was pushing into her wrist; that was until she noted how long it was taking. Her eyes darted back down to it. "What the…"_

_There was a sigh from the Akatsuki member and he closed his dark eyes briefly. "The walls of this cave system are made from the same mineral rock that's used for chakra repressing bracers. We're limited on what we can use."_

_Her eyes narrowed and stilled on him for a while as she considered a few things. When his eyes opened again they only briefly touched on hers before looking to another part of the room._

_She licked her lips. "Your Sharingan…" she said hesitantly, guardedly. It wasn't activated; anytime she'd ever come in contact with Itachi it was always activated… Maybe this was just another trick… Genjutsu…_

_He sighed and when he spoke his voice was just as unrevealing as ever; still, despite this she could hear a slightly distinct hint of annoyance. "I told you. The mineral in here represses chakra. I can't use my eyes for more than maybe a minute at a time…" he trailed off weakly before he started to cough, lifting his hand to cover his mouth._

_She worked on her wrist a bit more before just giving up. It wasn't broken, but, it wasn't hurting too badly anymore either. She used her free hand to help herself stand, relieved that nothing else was wrong with her aside from a few scrapes. At the very least it gave her an advantage with their chakra nearly repressed… he couldn't use Genjutsu on her… Although, she wasn't going to kid herself into underestimating him._

_She moved around the wall, looking for an exit as he continued to cough behind her. "What's wrong?" she asked, making her voice guarded and clinical._

"_Nothing," he muttered back before another round of coughing continued._

_She stopped at a point on the wall; the small pulse of chakra she sent out indicated there was a thin weakness there. She leaned in, ignoring him as she best she could so she could hear for any air movement…_

"_Be quiet if you can," she asked, straining for sound as she pressed her ear into the cold surface._

"_There's another room though there…" he said between a cough._

"_How do you know?" She didn't look at him or move from her position._

"_Sharingan."_

_She sighed when he continued coughing and pulled away from the wall. If she were to be honest with herself this whole situation made her nervous. Her insides were a mess from the stress of running into him in the glade and the accident. And now she was stuck with him. Shinobi training didn't really cover what one should do when faced with an S-class criminal, brother to your former team mate gone rogue, as your only real ally in a trap made by mother nature. Intelligence and decisive decision making she'd learned from both Kakashi and Tsunade dictated she find a way to work with …him—at least until they both got out of this. She could worry about the danger of his presence once she was out… right?_

_She turned around, trying to hide the weakness in her green hues as she looked at him. "Let me take a look at you. You won't be much use to me dead."_

* * *

Chapter Two

"Two bowls of pork ramen!"

"Only two?"

Blue eyes met coal black orbs. He looks disillusioned for a moment. "What? Hinata has dinner at home. This is just a snack.

"You eating?"

Sasuke shook his head as he leaned forward on the counter. "You can buy me a serving of sake, though."

"Sure." Naruto waved to Ayame. "One sake!" He beamed when she smiled back at him, waving that she would be right on it.

Sasuke placed his cheek in his open palm while his other forearm rested across the bar top. Disarrayed bangs were partially in his eyes, barely shading his coal orbs. He'd taken off his flak vest and set it on the stool next to him. His shirt was undone about three buttons down, revealing a scant of his upper chest. His headband was sitting on the bar in front of him.

The evening air was cool and nice, he decided. It mingled with the quiet sounds of people shopping and going home for dinner well.

The thump of two bowls and a glass of warm sake barely affected him. The sound of Naruto slurping up his 'snack' as he poured himself a warm glass played off in the background.

"How's Sakura?" the blonde mumbled between bites.

For a moment Sasuke was thrown off. Naruto always knew how either of them were doing, or, at least he _thought_ he did. Before he could say something stupid however, he stopped himself and took a sip of his drink.

"I nearly forgot you've been bogged down with work because of upcoming Kage summit."

Naruto nodded. "I'm going with Tsunade while she and the others make a decision about where the next Chuunin exam will take place in a few months."

Sasuke finished his cup and moved to pour himself another as he gave a sigh. "Sakura's alright. Tense as ever and maybe a bit more defensive than usual... but, she's alright." He shrugged, answering him.

"What are you pissed at her about now?" he asked before he stuffed his mouth full of noodles.

"It's always the same argument."

"Ah…"

Sasuke said nothing as he stared down at his drink, watching the tiny ripples bounce from side of the cup to the other every time a vibration hit the counter.

Naruto set his second bowl down inside the first one, wiped his mouth and released a long breath. "Maybe she's afraid, Sasuke."

"Of what?"

"You."

He opened his mouth to say something but Naruto beat him to it.

"The whole situation is delicate. You know that. The fact that _we_ still don't know what went down or why should tell you something. Maybe if you want to be with her you should quit waiting for her to tell you what happened and just be with her. A shinobi's life is full of secrets… from friends, children … lovers … Why should this be any different?"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know why." There was impatience in his voice. This wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation with Naruto either.

"You love her; it shouldn't matter."

"You don't know that." He poured himself another cup.

Naruto handed the empty bowls off to Ayame and took another steaming one. Sasuke raised a brow at this, but, said nothing.

Naruto shrugged at his look. "Buy two get one free."

"Un huh."

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned as he set it down and broke a pair of chopsticks. "Look, in love with her, not in love with her, call it what you want. The bottom line is you want to find out what happened from her before you want give her a chance at something more, right?" He moved the noodles around in his bowl.

"That's one way of putting it," he admitted begrudgingly.

"So far your plan hasn't been working too well. You're too concerned with protecting your own fucked up leftover ham of a heart. I'm telling you, take the first step and rest will fall into place."

"Yeah, yeah," he breathed out in reply while he swirled his drink. "I think the next time you ask me about Sakura I'm just going to tell you to find out for yourself."

Naruto chuckled between bites. "Mmm… speak of the devil," he mumbled and motioned to his left. Sasuke glanced just out from under the flap of the ramen stand to see a familiar set of black boots sauntering by.

"I think I'm going to head out," he muttered before downing his drink again.

"Oh?" Naruto raised his brows.

"Dinner plans." He wiped his mouth and tossed the napking into a bin on the counter.

There was more laughter from the Hokage-in-training, but, the stoic Uchiha ignored him and responded with little more than his own personal eye roll as he slipped on his vest, tied his headband and stepped out into the evening air. The scent of ramen lingered on behind him as he looked for the pinkette. It wasn't terribly hard to spot her hair in the crowd, nor did it take him long to catch up with her.

She was walking with several bags in her hands; probably food from the market to make dinner with. He wouldn't call what he was doing spying or sneaking, but, walking a feet behind her for a moment and taking her in wasn't exactly a crime in his mind.

She'd changed out of her hospital wear and chose instead to don a comfortable pair of black shorts and red tank top. Her hair was braided, the mess of it hanging nearly to the middle point of her back. His eyes drew lower to her thighs; years of working the muscle fiber there had bred strong, toned legs. He couldn't entirely fault other men looking at her the wrong way despite the fact that they were never serious because of the stigma she'd wrapped herself in. In a way… she wore it like a badge.

He shook his head and wiped away the frown as he came up next to her, quietly falling step.

"If that was you hiding while you snuck a look at my ass you should be asking Isao for pointers."

Instead of taking the bait he reached over and grabbed the bags from her hands. She put up no resistance as he helped her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"When's your next mission?"

"I'm off for the month."

She looked over at him at that.

He met her gaze. "It's a critical month for Isao with the Genin exam coming up Wednesday and the joining of a new team."

She turned her head back to look at the road, appearing satisfied. "I suppose your right."

The long pause in conversation after that admission didn't sit well with him. The undertones what weren't said, what she never said, were a little more than obvious to him. "I can change my plans in your prefer."

She shook her head. "No, I appreciate the help. He likes it when you're around for the important things."

He nodded.

She dug her hands into her pockets, looking more relaxed. "What was it like for you then?"

"What was what like?"

"Growing up with no one around to be there for the important things."

Her question surprised him a little bit. It wasn't her usual breed of conversational starters. Sakura, while she would never admit it, never really liked the quiet; however, her subjects with him were almost always safe. This one boarded on… something he couldn't quite place, but, anything but safe.

"Naruto talks about it here and there. It helps. Isao isn't exactly alone… but…"

"The day I got my headband I thought of my mother," he replied easily. For a long time, especially as a child, it had always been hard to talk about it… now they were just old scars… his parents. "She promised me she would be waiting for me when I passed. My father was always much more involved with my brother, but, my mother…" He hesitated, thinking about it. "She made the day worthwhile."

She looked over at him, listening.

He washed away the image in his mind of that day, standing after graduation by himself almost waiting for someone who would never show up. "Isao isn't alone because he doesn't want to be. I did."

"I guess that's true," she replied with her own little sigh before turning her back to the road.

"For the record though, I was an ass as a kid; something Isao will never be." There a little lift in his chest as he heard her short burst of laughter after his admission.

"Was?" She raised a brow at him.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes like a child and ignored her bait once more. "He won't be a depressed child. He's more like his mother in that respect; the kid lets everything roll off his back and takes it one day at a time."

Once again her eyes were on him, scrutinizing. "Was that a compliment, Uchiha?"

"A fact," he replied without revealing anything in his voice. "What did you get for dinner?"

Respectfully, she let the subject change slide. Still, it had been different.

**..**

**.**

**..**

Sasuke lightly tapped his chopsticks on the plate before him. His food had been shoved into a disarrayed mess on his plate; a good sixty percent of it was eaten, but, he wasn't all that hungry to begin with.

"They're not sure what the test will cover yet."

Sakura nodded and wiped her face with a napkin. "It's different each time," she admitted to Isao across the table. "For us it was clone replication; for others it was something else. Really, all you need to be able to do is demonstrate that you are capable of becoming a Genin." She smiled at him. "You're not doubting yourself now, are you?"

He took a bite of his rice and shook his head. After he swallowed he replied, "I think I'm ready. It's not the initial test I'm worried about as much as it is the one with my team leader."

"Those do come in varying degrees," Sasuke agreed. "One look at Kakashi and Gai will tell you that."

"I'm thankful every day I didn't get Gai," Sakura added. "I don't know how Neji or Tenten ever handled it. The word extreme just doesn't seem to really cover him completely."

"Agreed."

Isao grinned. "What about you, ojisan? What kind of teacher would you be?"

"I wouldn't be."

Isao rolled his eyes as he got up, taking his plate with him. "You'd probably be as bad as Kakashi-sama. That old man is devious and sneaky as hell when he wants to be."

"At least I know where you're getting it from now," Sakura replied as she stood up, taking both her plate and Sasuke's. She wasn't far behind Isao at the sink, placing both in. "Good job."

Isao gave her an odd look, half crooked smirk in place. "You're weird, okasan. I'm going to bed."

Sasuke leaned into the counter as he watched him half avoid the hair ruffle from his mother on his way out. When he was sure he was in his room and not eavesdropping Sasuke said, "He probably won't be up there long."

"Probably not," she replied as she started separating the plates, pans, cups and other dishes for washing. "I think he has a girl somewhere he's meeting secretly…" she paused. "Some ANBU captain's daughter… I think." She shrugged and went back to work with a little smile on her face. "I guess I should be glad he aims high, though."

Sasuke turned so his back leaned into the counter next to her. "He doesn't care about that."

She chuckled and glanced over at him. "He doesn't care about being with just one yet either. But, he's young… so, it doesn't matter much to me in a village where birth control is almost mandatory for female shinobi."

Sasuke gave her a look. "He's twelve."

"And I'm a doctor."

He sighed and looked away. "Point taken." After a moment of silence he was looking over at her again. She was plugging up the sink and starting to test the water before she pulled the facet over to the other side. She looked tired; more so than usual. He could see it in her eyes. There was always a dull air about her; Sakura wasn't wholly unhappy, but, it always appeared as though she was doing too much too often. Anyone who knew her could hear it in her voice and see it in her face. She didn't try to hide it. Today however…

He sighed and turned around, taking the dishes in her hands away from her and pushing her aside slightly.

"What are you—."

"Go sit down and take a break," he ordered softly.

Her eyes narrowed and she looked ready to argue.

"You've probably been working and running all day nonstop. It's not good for you. Go sit down on the couch and relax for a bit." He didn't look at her; instead, he just took over her job. He could feel her eyes on him, analyzing as she thought about it in her head.

"Alright…" she replied, half sighing as she turned and move to leave the room.

It wasn't too hard to imagine that translated to: I appreciate it and I'm too tired to argue about it right now.

He stole a glance at her as she meandered out of the room and into the living room around the corner. She wasn't trying to hide what she was doing, so, he could hear her once she sat down. From there, he went about finishing the task.

There were a few more things he had to take off the table and wash or put away in the fridge, but, with only three people there was never much to clean after eating. As he worked he thought about the look on her face. Some days, at least when he was here to see it, were harder than most for her. When he was younger he was so angry with her he felt she deserved the abuse whether it was behind her back or right to her face. He knew then it hurt; it still did, but, she didn't let it get to her much anymore, or, if it did she hid it very well. He wasn't sure if that was better or not—not dealing with it. Sasuke wasn't unaware of what it felt like to be discussed with a negative annotation attached to the conversation even if it wasn't directly about him. Part of that right there was why he got so upset about Isao. Regardless of how hard the kid tried there were always going to be some people who just couldn't get past what his mother did.

At the moment though he wasn't concerned with Isao.

He sighed, closed it eyes and took a moment. She was stubborn, withdrawn and mostly kept to herself. The Sakura he saw today was a result of years of trying to just get through life without letting the petty judgments get to her. In way, she now held onto the stigma the people of Konoha had dressed her in as much as he'd held onto his revenge. He wasn't naïve enough to think he was over Itachi, but, he wasn't anywhere near what he use to be. In many ways… they'd flipped sides emotionally. Sasuke wasn't open book, but, if he was even just cracked a page to those he loved and cared about she was sealed shut by comparison.

These were things he couldn't talk about; they were things he'd noticed about her during the long haul of their relationship as both friends and team mates. Naruto really only heard about a quarter of what he was thinking when he felt up to speaking about it. The rest of the time he just thought about it, or, as Kakashi liked to say: brooded about it.

He sighed again and opened his eyes, going back to work. There were only a few plates left and then he was done. He rinsed the rest and set them in the drain. Next he wiped the counter as he did a double take on the room to make sure it was good enough for the night.

When he finally wandered out into the living room she was sitting on the couch, legs crossed as she leaned back with a cup of something in her hands. Her eyes were set across the room, looking almost lost as he closed the distance to her.

When he stopped at the armrest to tell her he was going to head out she didn't look at him; he didn't say anything.

"I'm usually better about planning my day. This time it snuck up on me, though," she said quietly. "I feel like I should be drinking or something, but, it doesn't suit me."

"It doesn't."

She closed her eyes and looked down at her glass. "Do you ever feel like memories have a way of killing you slowly?" When he didn't reply right away she looked up at him, emerald meeting coal.

It was then he sat down, dark depths locked on hers in a way that was scrutinizing. "I think that's every shinobi."

She smiled wanly and took a sip from her glass, smacking her lips afterward as she broke his gaze. "Sometimes there are moments when you feel like no matter how hard you work at something you'll never really get to where you want to be. Does that make sense?"

He leaned back next to her, looking up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure if he should answer her, or, if he even had one for her. Still, he tried. "Is that you or everyone else?"

"Maybe just me." She set the glass on the coffee table and leaned back too, mimicking his pose.

He closed his eyes and contemplated a moment, testing the words out in his head. "What's wrong?"

Then the quiet came, long and slow, edging up and brewing. The sound of silence was louder than anything else in the room. His breathing was in his ears; he couldn't fathom the reason his heart beat against the cage of his chest as he waited.

"I've been working on something for a patient for a few years now…" she began. "They're trying to find some personal family information and it's been weighing down on me. Today I got my hopes up and… it didn't exactly fall apart, but, I've just been waiting so long and... And I knew better, but, I guess I couldn't help myself." There was a soft bitter bite of laughter after that admission. "I guess in a lot of ways I'm still that girl. You would think after everything I've been through she would have died already."

"I'm happy she hasn't," he found himself saying. "She always bled for everyone else but herself. These days she does too much of it."

The quiet that came after that didn't bother him so much. He didn't like not knowing what she was thinking, but, that was all the time. He didn't give her too much too often, either, so, he was a little surprised he'd said it at all.

"You're being awfully nice to me today," she whispered. "It's not like you."

"You're letting me," he muttered back. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked down towards his hand where he'd felt a warmth. He did so just as her fingers interlaced through his—tightly. He couldn't deny the sudden jump in his chest, only made worse when he looked over at her and found her reaching for his cheek, emerald depths catching his.

He felt frozen as she touched him and pressed her lips into his; surprise called a hint of scarlet to race across his cheeks. He inhaled swiftly though his nose as she opened her mouth to his; he complied out of instinct, offering his tongue to hers. He turned towards her, released her hand to adjust and entangled his other into her hair.

The question why didn't really enter his brain at that moment. The feel of her lips, her tongue, the agonizing smell of her right under him that had haunted him for years: these were things that tumbled around in his mind as she offered this to him. Her were hands on his chest, pushing aside his blue shirt to reach for the skin beneath; the burn of her fingers beat a combination of want and anticipation across his flesh.

When she pulled away from him he almost forgot to exhale. When he opened his eyes he was staring into the endless green.

"Is this ok?" he heard her ask. "Right now I—."

He silenced her by pressing his lips into hers again. This time it was her turn to inhale sharply. He took complete control by lifting her up off the couch, situating her legs about his waist with every intention of carrying her down the hall and into her room. He didn't need to open his eyes or stop making love to her mouth to make his way there. The door was open; he closed it with his foot.

When he laid her out on the bed the first thing to go was his shirt. He didn't bother unbuttoning it; he pulled it over his head and tossed it to the floor. When she reached for his pants he helped her and nothing remained. Undressing her should have taken longer; he should have been slower, but, he couldn't find the will to wait or hold off until she was bare before him. When he crawled on top of her there wasn't the shy abashed look of a girl in her youth, but, the look of a woman willing and wanting beneath him; seeing the ache in her eyes, knowing that she wanted _him_, not someone else, that was almost enough to send him through a whole other flurry of feelings he couldn't name or begin to label.

"I'm not using you," she whispered, eyes looking to read his; he wasn't sure if it she was telling him or herself. "I just need—."

He pressed his forehead in hers, quieting her. "Tell me this is me you want…" _Tell me it's not him._ "Tell me… Sakura," _please…_

"I want _you_."

His mouth was on her again, this time gentle. He wanted to taste every inch of her; he wanted to savor every touch, every caress.

His hand moved lower, digits running across her right breast and down her side. He drew half circles around her hip as he kissed her neck, listening for every little sigh. When he brushed his thumb across her tiny bundle of nerves she jumped, but, she didn't tell him to stop. He breathed her in, his nose half pressing behind her ear and into her hair as he teased her; he did so until her nails bit into his back. Then he went lower, slipping in two fingers into her wet core. By the time she was arching under him his mouth was wrapping itself about her nipple, his tongue running circles around it in an agonizingly slow fashion.

"Sa…suke…" she breathed, fingers tangled into his hair. "Sasuke…" she half cried.

"Again," he said, breathless at the sound of her voice calling him. He pulled his fingers out and crawled up her body so he could look at her face, her eyes when they opened.

Abyssal ebony met with emerald green.

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into hers again, softly thrusting towards her, but, not entering. "My name," he whispered across her lips, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

"Sasuke," she said, her voice a whisper and full of want. She would never say please.

When he pulled back and finally thrust into her it was almost like coming home. She wrapped him in a warmth; she moved with him. Going slow was a distant memory once she started thrusting up to meet him. Her willing arms around him brought another ache; he held her in return; he pulled her into his chest and pressed his face into her neck. He swallowed her whole, pulling her under his skin as that ache built. It grew with every whisper of his name, with every caress across his back, with every word of encouragement for more.

He realized as she climaxed, as he joined her, that once would _never_ be enough.

**ooo**

**AN :: **While writing this I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about the idea of having them do this so early in the story. But then I asked myself, what is going give Sasuke that reason to really pursue her _now_? A conversation with Naruto he's had, oh, a half dozen time already? Not so convincing to me; and if it doesn't convince me it won't work for you. To me something had to change for Sasuke for him to really have a reason; sex, emotional sex (even if neither of them really intended for it to be that way), is that reason. Then, of course, I had to contend with why Sakura would do this. Well… I suppose I should say more about that in the next chapter, but to give you a brief run-down: she didn't get bad news about the file, however she did get a little ahead of herself, and, while the disappointment wasn't huge it's just been piling up—the stress of her search. So, to make a long explanation short: Sakura found her breaking point and needed Sasuke, not just sexually, but, for comfort. Overall, it's going to lead to more—obviously -grins-.

Thanks for reading,

**Blade Redwind**


	4. Chapter 3

.

* * *

"_What are you doing?"_

"_Taking a break. We've been walking for a solid six hours."_

_To this her makeshift partner said nothing._

_Sakura dropped her bag on the ground a few feet away from the water source they'd been following for a short while. As she began to remove her palate and lay it out he took a seat to the other side of her, leaving enough space for something to go between them. She gave an exhausted sigh as she sat down and began looking in her pack for something. "How's your wound?"_

"_Acceptable."_

_The doctor in her didn't believe that for a minute, but, she would hold off checking on it for a bit. She pulled a scroll out of her bag and began to unroll it in front of her. As when she did anything, she could feel his eyes on her, watching her every movement. The first few hours of it had been uncomfortable; however, now she's just sort of grown use to it._

_She bit her thumb, cutting a trail of blood before sliding it across the parchment and following up with a few easy hand signs. In a plume of smoke a bag very similar to the one she had been carrying with her appeared. It was seconds later she was digging into this one and pulling out a few stones; she arranged them in a clustered formation between her and the Akatsuki member. With a swift tap each one began to glow in an orange aura, emanating heat._

"_There," she murmured. "Now, let me take a look at your wound before I start on dinner." He didn't move or protest as she came over to sit partially in front of him and partially to his left side. Gently, she removed the cloak from around his shoulders, revealing the pale, muscled shoulders; a lithe frame housed excellent tone. However, her eyes were solely focused on the bandages wrapping his left shoulder and part of his chest and arm. Without asking she snipped at the white material with a pair of scissors she'd removed from her pouch supplies. The process of unraveling it all was careful and required her to be closer to him that she liked. If it bothered him at all he made no mention of it. His eyes remained closed and his breath shallow, as if relaxed._

"_All done," she whispered more to herself than to him._

"_Jasmine."_

_She blinked. "I'm sorry…?"_

_He opened his eyes slowly and looked over at her, hooded pools of pitch lethargic. "You smell like Jasmine."_

_She wasn't sure what to make of that; she swallowed slowly and let out a momentary exhaled before going back to inspecting his wound. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he turned back to his former position, eyes closed._

"_My mother use to wear it," she found herself saying as she ran her fingers across the gash, semi-glowing hands gentle. "The perfume."_

"…_Ah." His voice was quiet, and contemplative._

_She sat back a moment. "Well, it's not healing as well as I would like it to. In fact, I'm a little worried that with your condition it might get infected, fester and eventually kill you. I shouldn't tell you this, one because I'm sure you don't care and two because of what you represent to Konoha…. But," she sighed, irritated, "I am a doctor first and a Konoha shinobi second. Fact is, Uchiha, if you don't stop using the Mangekyo, due to your failing immune system, your lungs will collapse and you will die."_

"_You haven't told me anything I don't know. How do we fix the immediate problem?"_

_Her jaw tightened and she let it go. It didn't matter how she felt as a medical professional in regards to his quick brush off; it really would be better if he did nothing at all about the Sharingan; better for Konoha… for Sasuke._

_She put it out of her mind and went on to explain. "I can't seal this would and tie back your muscle tissue on my own. These caves won't allow for me to expel any chakra from my body to yours. However, if you can focus your chakra underneath the surface of the wound then I can probably manipulate it to… well… fix it."_

"_Do it."_

_She bit her tongue at the order and raised her hands over it, skin to skin as she waited for him to draw enough chakra. "Good, keep that amount steady." And then she went to work, intermixing what chakra she could into his body with her own in order to manipulate what he offered. Slowly, she began to close and reform; any infection present began to reverse and vacate the body, eliminated._

_Everything was fine, for a moment. And then that was when the images started to flash into her mind. She tried to push her thoughts aside and focused as she finished, but, they wouldn't stop. Memories assailed her, voices she didn't know and faces she'd never seen. She felt herself inhale, swallow in fear. She jolted, still caught in the web as a hand gripped her wrist in a vice, as eyes of pitch caught her own and a tight voice spoke._

"What_ have done to me?"_

* * *

Chapter Three

A groan emanated from soft, pink lips and ebony depths drug themselves open. His arm was stretched out to his right; a soft mattress was beneath and void of any other human body. He was warm, but, the cold went without saying.

A sigh escaped Sasuke as he pulled himself up, sheet slipping off of his taught, hard back and falling to his hips. He turned over, allowing it to fall completely off his nude form. He got up slowly, cracking his neck before he went about gathering his clothes off the floor. His mind traveled as he slipped the items back on.

He wasn't too surprised Sakura wasn't here. She usually got up early with Isao and went to work in the hospital. With a child she had the benefit of working a standard nine to five day; at best she had one day off a week, but, there were times she had two. Since he was older now, there were days she stayed late or went in earlier; it just all depended on what she was working on, how many people could do her job for her, and what was needed.

He would be lying if he told himself he wasn't a little put off that she wasn't there, or, that she hadn't woke him up to say goodbye… But then, she wasn't required to tell him when she was leaving or where she was going. She wouldn't expect the same of him either.

He couldn't help but smile and pause to look out a nearby window.

His pants were on, belt undone as he pressed a hand into the wall next to him, leaning forward. His shirt was on, undone but tucked in. On the floor next to him was his flack vest, crumpled in a messy pile atop his sandals and wraps for his calves.

Something had changed last night; something had changed in him… in their dynamic. He couldn't expect himself to keep going on as he had, doing nothing… wasting time. He didn't want anyone else. He wasn't so arrogant anymore to think she couldn't be happy with anyone else, but, he wanted to be the one to do that. He couldn't be satisfied knowing what it had been like for one night and letting it go because he couldn't get over his heart.

Maybe Naruto was right… maybe it was just worth it to make the first move…

He would.

**…**

**.**

**…**

The sun was bright, blisteringly so. Wasn't it supposed to be spring? It shouldn't be this hot, she told herself as she knelt n a bed of herbs; a basket was beside her as she inspected the petal of fuchsia colored flower. It would likely bloom in a few days; it would be then she extracted the pollen for the poison control unit. She stood, replacing her wide brimmed hat to guard against the rays as she moved onto a bush, basket in hand. Here she felt the leaves and leaned down to smell the aroma.

"Looks like you're ready," the pinkette murmured to herself as she began plucking gently and placing them into one sectioned off area of her basket.

Today was fairly relaxing despite the heat, she decided and sighed. If only yesterday had brought her the reprieve she'd wanted; something. Walking into the birthing and death records department of the village had been a wreck on her nerves. Hadn't she learned by now not to get her hopes up? How was it that they couldn't find a listing for the birth certificate information in question? How was she going to find out if that woman had a family that knew about the Uchiha massacre? It was the first good lead she'd had in over a year.

Sakura stopped and closed her eyes.

She was tired. She'd been tired yesterday. Coming home and putting on a good smile for her son had been one of the hardest things she had accomplished in a while. After all, she wasn't just doing this for herself, for Itachi… she was doing this for little Isao as well. If she could just prove…

Maybe it was time to give up? To move on with her life? No, then everything she'd worked for would be for nothing; everything she'd begged of her mentor would be for naught. Though… even Tsunade was telling her she should maybe throw up the towel; if she hadn't found anything hard, good, in the last twelve, thirteen years nearly… she wasn't going to; that had been what her mentor had said. Was she right?

The young woman sighed and looked down at her basket; she contented herself with being done and turned to leave the garden.

His face haunted her though; the pain in his eyes was something she saw every night she went to sleep as she told herself tomorrow would surely turn up something new. She made a promise to herself, to Sasuke… to her son.

To her son, her beautiful son who never questioned who his father was, who never told her about the things people said about him, who was always simply happy to be. She knew the pain behind the mask he wore; she'd taught him well by example, hadn't she? Be strong, she'd told him with every false smile, be vigilant, she quietly ordered with every persevering step. And no matter what they said about him, about his mother to him, he still never asked.

Was it worth it… or worse to keep trying? Would it be better for him if she just settled in acceptance and did what she could to make it work for them?

Sakura shut the door behind her as she entered the back way into the hospital, her mind lingering on. She set the basket down on a nearby table as she pulled off the brown smock and replaced it with her lab coat.

"Ai!" she called out to the passing girl in front of her. As she caught her attention she offered her up the basket. "After you done with whatever Shizune is sending you off to do please take this to the poison control unit."

She took the basket and bowed. "Yes, Haruno-sama."

Sakura watched her go off about her duty as she pulled a small black book from her coat pocket. She removed the pen and inspected the day's pages. There were a few patients she had appointments to see before she left in a few hours. One was a surgery check up… and… Kakashi. Well, she'd see if he showed up. After all, the newest Icha Icha novel was out, courtesy of the Hokage-to-be. She moved to make a note to stop by his abode if he forgot as she walked, careful to move out of the way of any passerby with the skill of someone used to constant chaos.

"Haruno-sama!"

"Yes, Himiko?" Sakura continued walking as the girl tried to keep pace with her, flustered.

"You have someone her to see you. She says it's very urgent and about the—."

"That's fine. Have them wait in my office. I have a patient next and it won't take long."

"But, Har—."

Sakura stopped and turned to face her in the middle of the hallway, pocketing her book and placing both hands in her pockets. "Himiko, patients come first. Now, is it ANBU, Ibiki, the elders or Tsunade-sama herself that's waiting on me to see them?"

"No—."

"Then it can wait. I'll be done shortly."

Himiko sighed, defeated. "Yes, Haruno-sama. I'll tell them."

Without waiting for her to go Sakura continued on her way, taking the stairs to the second floor and to next room on her appointment list. A nurse met her in the hallway with a clipboard ready to hand over.

"How's the little monkey doing?"

"_Konohamaru-san_ is just fine, Haruno-sama."

"Did you take blood?"

"Of course. We did a full check up. The infection appears to have cleared his body and there are no signs of poison any longer. There's a nasty scar forming, but, all that aside I'd give him a clean bill of health… if it were my duty to do so."

Sakura chuckled and glanced over at the younger woman. "I keep telling you to put in for the physician studies. You'd be a great candidate. I'd certainly write you a recommendation, Miko."

"Yes, well, I'm perfectly happy with where I'm at now." She handed over the clipboard just in front of the door. "I'm not sure I could handle all the responsibility you do."

"I'll convince you one day."

"So you say, Haruno-san. Have fun with him. He's a little antsy to get back to duty." She waved before turning and moving down to hall to continue with her own work.

"Nurses," Sakura whispered before she opened the door and stepped in, skipping over the file Miko had passed on. As she'd said, it all looked in order.

"Afternoon, monkey."

There was laughter. "Hey, doc. So, how does it look? Clean bill or another week off?"

She looked up at him from her clipboard, features giving away nothing.

She had to give the old man credit… he sure knew how to keep the family line handsome. Asuma had never suffered on good looks and the 4th's grandchildren didn't seem to lack in that area either.

He'd grown into a tall young man with a strong jaw and a bigger smile than in his Genin years. His hair was a thick spiky mess that rivaled Naruto's. His eyes were bright, clear and full of trouble; that much hadn't changed. In his Jounin uniform, broad shouldered and a little bushy about the jaw, she almost felt like she _was_ looking at his uncle.

"Well, let me give it a look myself. Pull your shirt up." She motioned with her hand as she set down the clipboard and pulled a chair forward, rolling across the floor so she could sit down. It appeared it was as Miko said. All clear and starting to scar. She reached out, feeling with her fingers and pressing. She watched for any signs of pain from the younger man but got nothing. She gave a soft frown and sent a small amount of chakra out to be assured.

And then she frowned further and slumped back in her chair. Her arms crossed over her chest as she settled him with a look. "Alright, kage bushin… where's Konohamaru?"

"Busted," was the last thing he said before he went up in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. "Perfect. Another idiot quick to kill himself." She'd get to him later. It wasn't like the runt could go anywhere until she signed his release papers.

She stood up, feeling like that last fifteen minutes of her day had been wasted on a prank. She let it go as she picked up the clipboard and turned to leave the room. What stood in her way was a little surprising. Was she that off her game today? He hadn't been able to catch her off guard for at least… what six years? Probably.

"I'd like to talk to you. About last night."

Sakura sighed. "Look I have a pretty good idea of what you want to say to me, but, can it wait until my shift is over?"

"I—."

"Haruno-san!" Himiko burst through the door.

"_What_, Himiko?"

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't wait on you. But, that lady from the birthing records office says it's urgent she speak to you."

Sakura's eyes widened for the briefest of moments. "Birthing and death records. You're sure?"

"Yes, Haruno-san."

"Tell her I'm on my way and give this chart to Miko before you do." She handed her the clipboard. As the girl left Sakura turned to Sasuke. "I have to see about this. It's _very_ important. But, if you give me an hour I'll have lunch with you. Fair?"

He didn't look happy to agree to her terms, but, nodded nonetheless. "…Alright."

She stopped for a moment, her eyes softening. A memory stirred and she couldn't help but stop and think… that in that moment he'd looked an awful lot like his brother. Under better circumstances she might have voiced it.

"Thank you."

**…**

**.**

**…**

When Sakura opened the door to her office Izumi stood up and greeted her warmly almost immediately. Sakura took her hand and shook it.

"Haruno-sama. Thank you for coming quickly."

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I didn't exactly give Himiko time to explain just who was in my office. You have something for me?"

"Yes, I do." The dark-haired, middle-aged women didn't appear phased at all by this information.

"Please, sit down," Sakura offered as she took a seat across from her at her desk.

"I don't have too much time, so, I'll get right to it. When you asked me to look under the Uchiha birth records and I couldn't find the file of the woman you were looking for I was a little put off. It isn't very customary for us to lose a file and so the only immediate explanation I could come up with was that her file had been confiscated by someone higher up; which, didn't make sense to me when I thought about it. Naturally, this was all after you left."

Sakura nodded, eyes intent and focus secured on Izumi.

"Well, I took a moment to consider that perhaps she hadn't been filed under her married name, but, her maiden name."

"Does that happen?"

"It isn't customary, no, but in some rare cases, for many unknown reasons—usually pertaining to security of the deceased's family—you will have cases when it's willed that the married woman's record be refilled under her family name."

"I see."

"So," she sighed out, "I did a check under that and found what you were looking for, but, that wasn't all." Izumi handed the vanilla folder over. "It turns out she had family outside of the Uchiha one she married into."

"Really?"

Izumi nodded. "Uchiha Sasami, formerly Suzuki Sasami, was actually a twin. She has a sister. I did a little digging for you and found out she was still alive; she lives in the village actually. She's a civilian by the name of Kato Rukia. I got her address for you. It's all there."

Sakura exhaled slowly, discreetly. Hiding her elation; suffocating it, was horrendous. She nodded confidently, remaining calm and serene in her expression. She smiled, but, not too brightly. "Thank you so much. This helps me more than you know."

Izumi nodded. "Yes, well, if it helps Konoha find a way to cure the blindness and strain attributed to the Mangekyo then it's all worth it, is it not, Haruno-sama?"

"Yes, definitely," she agreed. "I appreciate it and so will others." She stood as Izumi did, reaching for her hand and shaking it. "Do let me know if you need anything."

"My pleasure, Haruno-sama. I have to go, but, I'm sure I'll see you again."

Sakura nodded, bowing as she did before she left.

Once she was sure the woman was gone and that no one was around she beamed, grinning. "Finally," she half shouted in a whisper, while holding the folder as if it was a holy object. A breakthrough, finally. Thank, Kami-sama. She would savor this. Granted, she couldn't get her hopes up just yet, but, this moment would last for a while. For at least the rest of the day.

Suddenly a knock came at her door.

"Yes?" She washed her face of her joy quickly and set the folder down as the door opened.

Himiko poked her head in tentatively. "Uchiha-sama is waiting for you. He says if you're done he's ready for that lunch break."

"Ah, yes. Thank you. Tell him I'll be out in a moment. After you do please let the nurse's station know I'll be out for an hour."

Himiko nodded and ducked out, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Sakura stared at the door a moment, considering just what was in store for this meeting. She wasn't lying when she'd told him she had a general idea of what he wanted to say to her; thankfully, he would be all business… as usual. And that was something normal she could handle—even from the Uchiha.

She dropped her lab coat on her desk, checked herself in her wall mirror and made sure her hip pouch was secured about her waist. She frowned at the white button up and the skin tight capris. It would have to do; after all, it was work comfort. She wasn't on a mission and this wasn't a date.

She gave a sigh and left, shutting and locking her office behind her.

As expected he wasn't sitting down in a chair in the waiting area; no, Sasuke stood just a few feet from her office door in the hallway, leaning against the wall.

She offered a smile. "Shall we go?"

He nodded and pushed off the wall, taking a bag with him and pulling it over his shoulder. Silence accompanied their presence as they left the hospital.

He didn't look at her, but, on ahead at the passing civilians and shinobi going on about their day. Briefly, he noted she looked better, not physically… but, something was better about her. "How's your day so far?" he asked.

"Good and bad. Well, not so much bad as annoying."

He nodded, knowing she would explain.

"Konohamaru was due for a check in today and instead sent a kage bushin in his place. I can only assume he didn't think I would have time to really look in on him after Miko talked to me, one of the nurses on the second floor. Or course, she wouldn't have been able to detect a thing."

Sasuke gave a little smirk at that. "I'm not surprised."

"Neither am I. I'll get to him later." She shrugged. "So, where are we going to eat?"

He motioned to the bag he was carrying. "I got something to take out… It's not something I want to talk about in a room full of people straining to hear us."

"Naturally," she agreed. "What did you get me then?" she peered over at the bag.

"Orange juice and the Reiko special number one."

"My favorite." She smiled.

"Mmm," he agreed.

"And where are we eating, again?"

"Training ground. I had one reserved today for other uses, but, this works just as well."

Sakura frowned. "You do know I'm sparing with you."

"Only if you want to. Do you need to expend some energy?" His voice was monotonous, lacking any indication if cared whether she wanted to one way or the other.

"No, not really, if you want me to be honest. By the time I get done at work every day I've gotten enough of a workout. That kind of exercise is saved for the mornings before work."

"That's why you left early." And here he assumed it was the hospital that had her up before the crack of dawn.

"…Yeah," she agreed, letting it go.

The rest of the walk was met with silence. When they reached the destination he took a seat with her under the tree there and pulled out their lunch. They ate quietly and watched the water on the river ahead of them. Even after they were done the quiet remained. When he felt it was a good time to start saying something it was her who beat him to the punch.

"Before you say anything I just want you to know there's nothing to really talk about."

The statement preened his curiosity enough that he let her go on, turning to watch her face as she spoke.

"I realize what happened last night was just us doing what we wanted. I don't regret it, and to be honest I needed it as much as I'm sure you did. We're adults, Sasuke; not children."

"I'm aware."

"Nearly in our thirties, I might add."

"I'm aware of that also."

"I'm not a foolish little girl anymore and I don't need you to tell me it didn't mean anything more than two very old friends giving each other what they needed at the time. I respect you as a teammate and as the uncle of my child; I don't want that to change. I'm sure you don't want one night to change that either."

He was quiet for a moment and looked away towards the water, eyes narrowed and thoughtful. One leg was stretched out in front of him while the other was bent with his elbow on it; his forearm half hung there, relaxing. His free hand supported him. His body half faced Sakura in that position.

"What do you want, Sakura?"

"I want us to continue as we were; comfortable, even if sometimes strained on our beliefs in regards to Isao and how he should be raised. I like having you around for him and I don't want that to change." She gave a smile. He could feel the wane in it.

"I'm sure that's what you want. That's why you wanted to talk to me, isn't it? Well, I'm ok. Alright? You don't have to worry about me feeling hurt. I've been over you for a long time."

"Do you know what I want?"

"I'm sorry?"

It was then he turned his gaze away from the water, coal orbs locking on hers. She didn't look away, but, she appeared a little put off. He had to stop himself from smiling at that, laughing. It had been a while since she'd looked so unsure of herself of what someone else was thinking.

"You," he whispered as he reached for her, moving to take the back of her head and capture her in a kiss. She jumped under him, obviously surprised, but, she didn't push him away either. He moved his lips across hers, gentle and pleading at once, running his tongue across the opening until she gave under him. And then she gave back, returning the kiss as much as she had the night before, sighing through her nose.

His tongue tangled softly across hers as he ran the thumb of his free hand across her cheek, gently brushing her hair out of the way in a way that was reverent; his hand swept though her hair. His other moved down her back, pulling her to his chest.

Fire lit his blood and he found himself wanted to press her down into grass. He wasn't ashamed to admit he would gladly take her right there, that she would take him as eagerly as well.

He pulled away, not quite letting her go as he stared into her hooded green eyes.

"I don't want one night. I don't want to go on like we were. I want _this_," he whispered, breathy and unabashed. "I want what you do to me."

Sakura took in a breath and closed her eyes again. Carefully, she pulled away from him, trying to form thoughts. "Sasuke, I…"

He waited, quietly, watching her.

"I don't…" she stopped and looked over at him. "I don't think I can right now." Why was that so hard to say?

"Why?" He appeared strained, but not angry or shocked by her response. "Give me a reason."

"I just can't right now," she replied, her voice tight. "Do you even realize what you're asking, who you're asking?"

"Sakura."

"Look," she answered, "For one… what if it didn't work… what about Isao? Can you imagine the kind of strain it would put on him?"

"Don't use him as an excuse," he muttered. "He's not a child anymore, not by shinobi standards. In a few months he'll be doing and seeing things other normal boys his age won't for years to come, if that."

"Sasuke."

He stood up and she followed suit.

"We work," he half snapped, not in anger but to get his point across. "And we've practically been a family since that boy's first birthday."

"And I don't want to ruin that dynamic!" she argued, eyes hard.

"We won't and you know that, Sakura. I would never cheat on you, I would never let anyone hurt you, I would be there as I have been…and," he breathed out, voice hot as he got closer to her with every step, "when I love you it wouldn't be on a whim."

Her eyes wavered slightly. It was for a moment, but, it was enough for him to keep going.

"I'm not giving up on this," he whispered. "I know you want this as much as I do… even if you're too jaded by grief and fear to see it.

"You're right, Sakura. We're not kids anymore. As a girl you would have broken bonds, oaths, to be with me, to make me happy. Then… you couldn't do anything to make that happen. But I can. For you.

"I will."

* * *

**AN ::** So….that was interesting…. Sorry the update took so long and sorry if as a result of fanfiction[dot]net changing the way their site works that I couldn't reply to all my previous reviews. I do want you all to know I saw them, I loved them and I have listened. I sorely hope you have enjoyed the update. It was fun to write if even a pain and late.

—**Blade**


	5. Chapter 4

.

* * *

"_Stop it," his voice was like ice, as the sharp edge of a knife cutting through anyone in its path. He doubled over almost immediately, giving over to the fit of coughs that wracked his body._

"_Itachi…"_

"Don't," _he snapped quietly. "…Don't touch me." His breath came short. From the corner of his mouth came blood. His face contorted to that of one in pain; his eyes shut horribly tight and he refrained from biting his cheek. Erratic breaths shot from his nostrils, causing them to flare._

"_Let me help you," she whispered, green hues soft and pleading._

_He looked over at her, glancing. He kept his jaw tight; his hand gripped the cloak around him out of instinct. When he coughed again, body shaking, a splash of red expelled from his mouth and saturated a spot on the ground._

_When next he felt her hands on his chest, moving his out of the way he snapped, taking her wrists in his hard grip; red and black locked on emerald. Her sharp intake of breath stilled him; fear was something he could grasp. He could see her chest rise and fall, but, she did not look away. She could easily pull away from him, but, she didn't._

"_Ita—."_

"_Quit looking at me with pity," he ordered, tomoe swirling._

"_I don't pity you," she whispered._

_He could hear it in her voice; he could see it in her eyes._

"_Understanding," she said quietly, "is not pity."_

_He stared at her, analyzing her until the limits of the cave system forced him to release the Sharingan. Ebony held emerald; their mutual breathing echoed off the walls. Condensation dripped off rock and onto other surfaces, draining into the cracks; the sound was slow, like the second hand of a clock. Time passed on._

_He broke her gaze, closing his eyes. His grip loosened and his fingers slipped away from her wrists, caressing inadvertently._

_She removed his cloak slowly, reluctantly. Next, she placed a hand on his back and on his chest. "Relax," she spoke, her voice soft and quiet. Her chakra was warm as it entered his body, his lungs. This time, he noted, unlike before, she didn't need his help; this time there was nothing… no images, no voices… there was only the sound of his own breathing in his ears and of her chakra as she worked._

"…_I guess whatever happened last time…" she started, obviously thinking through her words. "Whatever happened last time… I can use my chakra on you, at least."_

_The quiet between them was deafening. There was a tension, and yet, it wasn't as stifling as previously. She'd been afraid of him before; she still was, in a way. She wasn't looking at him, and yet she was. His memories burned in her mind; flashes, bit and pieces allowed her insight to a place that haunted him at night._

_Likewise, her memories, pains, hopes, dreams and fears echoed in his own. He could see the face of his brother, feel the tears she'd cried, and hear the screams she'd kept quiet._

_Something was crumbling_

"_You love him," he heard himself saying, as he found he could speak without pain slicing through him._

_He felt her ministrations skip a beat; her eyes didn't go to him, but he could sense she was surprised. Her hands, tense on his flesh, softened. Her emotional state changed almost completely._

_All tension left the space they occupied._

_A wall broke between them._

_He looked up as he felt her eyes on him. Barely beyond the surface, hiding in the green, he could see her tears. "We have that in common, don't we?" she breathed quietly. "Our love of Sasuke."_

* * *

Chapter Four_  
_

Once more the sun beat down on her, hot an unforgiving. The dirt path she walked was carved with lines from carts that had come before her and would come after. Down the center a patch of grass grew where the wheels had not eroded the green away. To her left and right people worked the fields, harvesting; some were young Genin working their D ranked missions. She smiled softly at a group of two boys arguing in a rice field. She frowned when one pushed the other into water, mucking up his backside. It wasn't a moment later a young Jounin sensei was scolding them both while a young girl off to the side sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. It was enough to elicit a small chuckle from her before she continued on her way.

Clouds shifted overhead, giving her a moment of reprieve from the heat. She looked up, eyeing a group of crows as they passed by, squawking at each other. She shaded her eyes as the clouds passed and once more she looked ahead.

Horses neighed behind her and a shout caused her to turn and move out of the way of the passing farmer with a load. She waved as the man driving it waved. Her smile was soft as he left and she continued on her way.

She opened the folder at her side, once again skimming the address before closing it and looking up at the numbers on a nearby mailbox. It would likely be the next one up on the road. She hoped someone was home; Saturdays were generally a day when people took their produce to market. It would be unfortunate if no one was because she didn't have a day off tomorrow and she didn't want to go in the evening. She would if she had to, but, it would be better to go in the daylight.

She blew air out through her mouth in a whoosh in some vain attempt to push the stress and heat out of her body.

She hadn't seen Sasuke all day yesterday. Isao had come home from classes at the Academy and he too commented on his uncle's absence. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or worried. It, at the very least, had given her time to think in the quiet of her own presence after Isao had gone to bed.

She could still hear his voice in her ears, telling her he was going to pursue her. The thought alone almost made her laugh. Fate was twisted when one considered how different things had been in that regard some fifteen years ago.

Sex had been a mistake.

He was right, Isao had been an excuse. He loved his uncle and part of her already knew he would ecstatic if they got together—the two people he loved most. She also knew if for some estranged reason it didn't work out he would be ok with that too. He'd never really been a child, even when he was very young. Like his father he was perceptive, calm and decisive. He never made a rash decision or let emotion get the better of him. Like her, he was smart and cocky as all hell; well, she probably would have been a lot cockier as a child if she hadn't been hung on Sasuke and worried about what he thought of her all the time.

She sighed again, eyeing a house number before continuing on her way.

Attraction aside, Sakura had many reasons for why she couldn't do it, why she didn't want to. Most of them were trivial, but… one rang very clear. It had to do with a promise she made to herself, to both of them, that day in the quiet of her own mind; months later that short promise included another.

She closed her eyes, pushing the memories aside and set her gaze ahead.

She couldn't tell him; she wouldn't. And Sakura wasn't naïve enough to think that if she were with Sasuke she _wouldn't_ tell him; being with him made it harder not to be honest with him. Just being around him all these years and steeling herself against his presence had been a hard thing to build a wall against.

And if she did tell him?

Sakura's smile was wane.

Sasuke had spent more than half of his life hating and hunting his brother. He'd spent the other half trying to get to a place where the memories didn't haunt him anymore. Killing him hadn't brought him peace; it was a lesson he hadn't learned until it was too late. Ultimately, he had lived his whole life believing in one simple truth: that his brother was both traitor and a murderer; his whole existence, his former life's purpose, weighed on that fact. To tell him that all that was a lie without evidence… Sakura had spent many a night thinking about that, how he would react. There wasn't a single scenario where the ending worked in her favor.

She stopped suddenly.

The numbers on a mailbox a few feet a head of her caught her eye, causing her to squint. She opened the folder once more, pushing her thoughts aside and checked as she walked up to the gate. "I guess this is it," she whispered as she pushed it open. She continued up the well worn path to the porch, noting the name Kato carved into the wood frame holding up the awning. Floorboards creaked under her as she stepped up into the shade and in front of the door. She knocked a few times and waited, taking a step back.

A moment or two went by and Sakura began to wonder if anyone was home. She considered knocking again until she heard the knob turn. The door pulled open.

"Yes? Can I help you?" a woman asked. She was roughly the same height as Sakura and looked to be a little older; Sakura gauged her to be in her mid-thirties. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid that hung over her shoulder; strands of it were coming loose and made her look a little disarrayed. The yukata she wore was a soft shade of tan with a darker decorative print. The sleeves were pulled back with ties indicating she'd been working. Her eyes were darker shade of green than Sakura's; they were tired, but, not unhappy. She had some wrinkle lines in her face, but, in spite of this she was a very pretty woman.

"Kato Rukia…?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"I'm her," she replied, looking quizzical. "What's this about?"

Sakura offered a smile. "I'm Haruno Sakura; a shinobi. I was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble… could I ask you some questions about your late sister?"

"You're here about Sasami," she stated; it wasn't a question. "I thought they were done investigating about her years ago."

Sakura resisted the urge to frown. Investigating?

"After the massacre some ANBU came by and took her things. They said it had to do with a crime investigation. A week or two later they brought it all back. To be honest I'm not really sure what your people were looking for. Sasami had nothing to do with the murders."

"No, of course not," Sakura replied, filing that information away. Why would ANBU be investigating…? "I'm a medical nin. I'm trying to find a way to reverse the long term side effects that regular usage of the Sharingan causes. Any information you would be willing to share would be helpful."

Rukia sighed. "I'm not sure how much help I can be, but… come in." She opened the door further and stepped aside.

"Thank you," Sakura replied as Rukia shut it behind her and showed her to the living room.

"Please take a seat. I'll be back."

Sakura watched her leave as she took a seat on the couch. She inspected her surroundings as she waited. It was a typical family living room. The walls were full of pictures and shelves with knickknacks. In front of her was a coffee table covered in a modest cloth meant to protect the wood beneath. There was a shelf with books, all in different sizes and shapes. From her distance on the couch she couldn't read the titles.

Quickly enough Rukia came back into the room, a platter in one hand and a box on her hip. "Here we are. Tea and this." She set the tea on the coffee table and the box next to Sakura.

Sakura blinked at the contents.

"This, my dear, is all I have left of Sasami. If you can find anything of use, please feel free to look." While she spoke she poured them tea.

Sakura gratefully took the cup offered and sipped from it. "Before that, I was just wondering if you could tell me about her."

"Is that important for your study?" She asked as she sat down.

She shook her head as she looked her in the eyes and smiled kindly. "No, not really. But I don't like barging into people's homes and demanding medical information of their dead relatives.

"Plus, sometimes the things we think are the most trivial end up being the most helpful; something I've learned being a shinobi."

Rukia smiled back, chuckling in her throat before she took a sip of tea. "I imagine you have amazing bedside manner."

"The best I'm told."

"Well," Rukia began with a sigh. "Where would you like me to start?"

"Ah, well, I suppose the beginning?"

She nodded and set her cup down. "Sasami and I were conceived during the Great Third War. Our parents were both shinobi. When my mother realized she was pregnant she was sent back to Konoha. But," she sighed out, "because of the nature of the war it wasn't that easy. Suffice it to say both my sister and I were brought into this world earlier than planned, both without parents.

"Nurses at the camp took care of us and by the time we made it home the war was over." She reached out, picked up her cup and took another sip. "We were placed with hundreds of other children who were displaced because of the war and put up for adoption."

Sakura frowned, sympathizing. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" She smiled. "It's not your fault." She shrugged and let her cup sit in her lap as Sakura as doing, crossing one leg over the other. "Thankfully, after roughly a year and half, we were adopted into a shinobi family who couldn't conceive children of their own. My sister went onto the Academy while I chose to stay home and pursue other interests."

Sakura imagined that must have been hard in a shinobi home. Most, if not all, shinobi parents expected their children to become shinobi themselves. She didn't comment on it, however.

"She became a code writer and mastered the art of deciphering code written by others. There were few Jounin in the same field who couldn't do what she was doing at the age of thirteen. It didn't take her long to rise in rank. I'm proud to say that by the time my sister was fifteen she was working as ANBU in the interrogation unit."

"Amazing…" Sakura blinked.

Rukia nodded and took another sip of tea, this time setting down on the coffee table. She poured more into her cup and Sakura's as she offered her own glass up. Gently, she set the tea pot down and took her cup.

"It was around that time she met Uchiha Shisui."

The name sent a flurry of bells off in Sakura's brain, but, she couldn't remember why…

"He and Uchiha Itachi became fast friends with my sister; they themselves were practically brothers before they met her in ANBU, as I understood it from her." She smiled, memories washing over her. "It didn't take her long to fall in love with Shisui; she was very happy with him… I was happy for her.

"It was no surprise to me when the clan accepted her with open arms. I'm not sure if you're old enough to remember, but," she paused, sighing, "the Uchiha were never well known for allowing their own to marry outside of the clan. My sister was a grave exception because of her mastery with code and because of her swift rise to ANBU."

"I was very young, although I've heard something about that," Sakura replied, eyes quizzical.

"A few years passed by and eventually the massacre occurred." Rukia frowned. "It never made much sense to me…"

"What didn't?"

"Itachi," she answered, frowning still, looking lost in her thoughts. "He was always quiet and contemplative, but, he never seemed the type to do what he did."

"Can I ask you…" Sakura began carefully, eyes narrowed and face worrisome with a question, "was there anything your sister came to you with or told you the coming months before the massacre?"

She shook her head, her eyes closing a moment. "She was more stressed than usual. Which, at the time I thought was odd; Sasami was always all smiles, even when she was working on a particularly annoying problem. But, the weeks before the massacre she seemed…"

"Yes?"

Rukia looked up at her, eyes rippling and full of her own inner questions, one's she knew Sakura couldn't answer anymore than she could. "Depressed about something… But, she wouldn't talk about it; even when I asked her she brushed me off. She always told me everything, but this… whatever it was she wouldn't tell me." Rukia rubbed the cup in her hands and looked off to the side, her voice going quiet, "After she died I assumed it had to do with Itachi; I wondered if she knew something and couldn't tell me." She swallowed visibly, blinking back tears as she took in a breath. "You know, they say twins feel it harder… when the other is in pain… I knew something was wrong with her, I just…"

Sakura nodded and reached out, rubbing her wrist in comfort, which cause Rukia to look at her, eyes full of unchecked emotion. "Don't blame yourself."

Rukia nodded, her lips a tight line as if she were trying to hold it all back. "You know… I told those ANBU guys that came by for her stuff about all this, but, they didn't seem to care. I was hoping they'd be able to figure something out, something Sasami couldn't tell me. I just… I think there was something more going on… you know?"

_More than you know_, Sakura wanted to say. "I understand."

She reached up and wiped her eyes; she forced a smile and let out a shaky breath. "Anyway," she motioned to the box, "go on and look through that. If you're hungry I can make you something; I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"If it's not too much trouble." Sakura's voice was soft.

"Not at all," she replied as she got up. "Take your time looking." A moment later she disappeared around the corner.

Sakura's eyes remained on the place where she faded from sight a moment longer, but, she wasn't really looking at it.

It made sense to her now, where she'd heard that name before: Shisui. When she'd first started her investigation she'd started with Itachi's files. Shisui had been listed as his captain in a few those while he was in ANBU. Some other detailed reports going over Shisui's death listed Itachi's name as a possible suspect in his supposed suicide. She'd have to revisit those files.

So, Sasami had been married to Shisui… that would explain why she'd been relisted in the records under her maiden name; it would also explain _why_ Shisui's first name hadn't been listed on the marriage certificate. But, who had Sasami been protecting her sister's family from? Konoha? It didn't make sense. If Rukia or her family knew anything then the parties involved would have taken care of her already. So, then what?

Sakura sighed and looked down at the box. In the background she could hear Rukia preparing lunch. As she stared down at it she wondered how Rukia must have felt the day she was given this tiny little box… all that was left of her sister.

She shook her head and reach down; the first item she pulled up was a framed picture. Her eyes softened considerably. In a way it reminded her of team seven's first picture together. A man she could only assume was Shisui stood next to Itachi; on the other side of Itachi was a young woman—the spitting image of Rukia. All three were decked out in ANBU gear. Sasami was grinning from ear to ear, giving off a peace sign. Both Shisui and Itachi smiled in a way that gave away nothing, and yet told the viewer they were happy.

She set this aside and picked up a few other items, inspecting them all quietly and with the consideration of someone going through things that weren't hers. There was a worn doll, a few other pictures, mostly of the twins together, some with other people she didn't know. There were some clothes, jewelry and a weapons pouch still full with kunai. She sighed, thinking this might be an uneventful dead end. She peered into the box once more, moving idle things out of her way. Her eyes arrowed, curious as what appeared to be a book came into her light of sight. Sakura pushed things off of it and pulled it out.

She opened it slowly and looked inside the cover. "_In all things one must first look for love, hope and faith_," she whispered, reading the almost perfect manuscript in ink. She turned another page and skimmed through.

It was a journal.

"I see you found my sister's journal."

Sakura looked up, blinking. She closed the book, but did not put it down. "I suppose I have."

Rukia set a platter down, moving the tea set out of the way. There sandwiches cut up for them both and two classes of some sort of fruit juice. "She wrote in it every day from the moment she was married." Rukia smiled and sat down. "She wanted to have something for her children and grandchildren to remember her by.

"A romantic notion."

The pinkette reached out and took a sandwich. She took a bite and swallowed, thinking. "I take it the ANBU agents that came here for her things took this as well?"

"They were very curious about it, if I recall," she replied, nodding. "I guess they assumed she'd written some secrets into it."

"They were disappointed to find out she didn't?"

Rukia smiled knowingly behind her glass of juice as she drank. "What kind of shinobi would be stupid enough to write down their secrets? Especially one that wrote code for a living?"

"True… Then is it in code?"

Rukia chuckled. "Who knows? I don't think they ever found anything. As I recall they were pretty grumpy when they gave me the stuff back. I imagine whoever their superior was, he was not pleased; not if he was looking for something."

Sakura nodded, taking this information in quietly.

"What I can tell you is that journal is not the original." She pointed to it in Sakura's hands as she spoke. The pinkette followed her gaze to the brown little book. "The last few weeks before my sister's death she rewrote everything from her previous journal into that one. When I asked her about she told me she was fixing the errors." Rukia shrugged. "Her response didn't surprise me too much. Sasami was a perfectionist when it came to written word.

"Do you think there might be anything in there about the Sharingan?"

It took Sakura a moment to recall what pretense she was under while she was here. She gave her a soft smile, pulling her muddled brain out of its clockwork thoughts. "I hope so. Would you… would you mind if I borrowed it? I'd be more than happy to leave my address with you and where you can contact me at the hospital."

"Not at all. Keep it as long as you need it for."

Sakura took another sandwich, another sip of her drink and wrote down the information for Rukia. Shortly thereafter she left, thanking the smiling woman once more for all her help. Her trek home was quiet, but, her step was a little lighter.

…

**.**

…

"Where are you going?"

Green depths that rivaled her own looked up at her from the door as she peered out from the kitchen, dish towel in hand.

Isao flashed a million-dollar smile. "Me and few of the guys are going out to training grounds to get some work in."

"A few of the guys and _me_," she corrected him with a smile.

Isao rolled his eyes humorously. "Is that alright? Or do you need me here tonight, Okasan?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. You finished your work, right?"

He nodded, black bangs shaking around his cheeks. "Chores are done and I'm finished with practice."

"Have fun then," she murmured.

He smiled softly, nodded again and left out through the screen door.

Sakura sighed, staring at the door where he'd gone. There were some days she looked at him, overlooked the green in his eyes and saw his father. When he smiled like that… It was harder than most to ignore the similarities. She wondered what Sasuke saw when he looked at his nephew.

She turned, moving to head back into the kitchen.

"Forehead!"

…And turned right back around. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was beckoning her step. She smiled wryly. "It's open, Ino!" she hollered back as she stepped over to the fridge and tossed the towel on the island counter. She could vaguely hear the screen door slam and the patter of heels on her wood floor.

"Would you believe I have a delivery for you?"

Sakura stood up, bottle of water in her hand; her brow rose at the large bouquet in Ino's hands. The blonde was smiling brightly, secretly at her.

Sakura shut the fridge behind her and came to the island as Ino stepped over and set it down in the center. "I wasn't expecting anything…" she murmured, eyeballing it and feeling a little shocked and flattered. She briefly wondered if it was some kind of joke. People did not send her flowers.

"Pretty isn't it? I was asked to arrange it specifically." The blonde brushed her hands down her violet shirt front and lower past her bare stomach to her skirt, dusting off pink cherry blossom petals.

"Very," Sakura whispered, noting the varying shades of pink and red.

"Can you guess who paid for the arrangement…?" The blonde eyed her curiously, impishly.

Sakura glanced over at her. "You rang it up?"

"Duh." She crossed her arms over her chest after she tossed the mess of hair that hung in front of her face out of her eyes. "Well, guess."

Sakura was afraid to ask. "I don't think you'd be delivering this if it weren't legitimate."

"Damn right I wouldn't," she snapped.

Sakura sighed as she touched the petals, caressing them gently. It didn't take a genius like her to figure it out. "Was he tall, dark and bearing an aloof disposition?"

Ino smirked. "Hey, his 'aloof disposition' is no worse than yours, but, yes." She turned her gaze from Sakura to the flowers that were her namesake. "I was a little surprised to see him in the shop at all, to be honest. When he told me who to deliver them to it took everything I had in me to stop from asking questions.

"Just what did you do to get Uchiha Sasuke to send you flowers?"

_Had sex with him_, she refrained from saying; in part because she didn't want Ino to know… not yet, and, in part because it wasn't as simple as just sex. With Sakura… it was never just sex it seemed, not with the boy you once loved.

"Well?" Ino asked as her quiet reverie drug on.

She looked over at her best friend and shook her head, smile wane. "Can't this be one of those things I don't tell you about?"

Ino huffed out a sigh, arms still crossed over her chest. She eyed Sakura like Sakura eyed a dishonest patient trying to get back on duty. "Nothing?"

"Maybe," she allowed as she touched the petals, focused on the flowers.

"Well, come to dinner with me." She tugged on her arm. "Chouji and the kids are out and I have no one to cook for. My treat."

Sakura looked back at her, smiling still. She gave a sigh of defeat. "Why not? Isao's gone. It's not like I have plans.

"I could use the break."

"Perfect! You don't even have to dress up!"

"That's good," Sakura replied as she stepped out the door with her. "I wasn't going to change anyway." Sakura resisted the urge to laugh at her best friend's snort as she shut the main door and stepped down onto the path with her.

…

**.**

…

"Private table for two."

"On the terrace or indoors?" the hostess asked.

"Terrace," Ino replied.

The waitress nodded and took two menus before she indicated that both girls follow her. They stepped through a busy main room with a quiet atmosphere and dim lighting.

Ino wrinkled her nose and looked over at Sakura. "The air's too fresh to be stuck in doors."

"This way," the hostess said as she indicated they go before her through a set of curtained, glass, window-like double doors.

Both women stepped out onto the semi, circular balcony set with floral-vine growth around the rails. They walked the sort distance to one of three tables separated sufficiently away from each other to allow for privacy.

"Drinks?" the hostess asked after they sat down and were given their menus.

"Cosmo," Sakura provided.

"Long island ice tea," Ino replied.

The woman nodded and left.

Sakura skimmed the menu, touching her chin as she thought her choice over. "I think I'm going with the shrimp pasta alfredo. You?"

"That's the special tonight, right?"

Sakura nodded, looking up at her.

"Sounds good. You want a salad and bread sticks with it?"

"Duh," Sakura replied as she closed her menu.

A short moment later the waitress came with their drinks and took their orders. Food was made to order and she told them it should take no more than twenty minutes.

Sakura took a few sips from her cosmo, enjoying the way the liquor wasn't too strong or too light. Her eyes drew out across the village, lingering on one building or another. The breeze, light across her skin, was enjoyable as the sun began to settle downward in the sky.

"How's Shika and Chouji doing?" She asked, turning to Ino.

She shrugged. "Good as always; just as much as the rest of rookie nine. Neji's busy with clan politics and Tenten's just trying to keep him sane. Hinata's working pretty hard herself, but, she's got her own mess to deal with trying to convince the clan Naruto's a good match for her."

Sakura smiled. "Well, more is expected of Neji now that the branch family separation has been abolished. And, it's not so surprising; if Hinata marries Naruto he'd become the next head alongside her. Although, with Hokage politics, I imagine he'd leave most of it to Hinata and Neji."

"True," Ino replied, resting her cheek in her hand, her elbow on the table. "Kiba and Shino are busy with their own squads of young Genin and Shikamaru is getting ready to take on a set himself."

Sakura blinked. "Really?"

Ino nodded, smiling. "He's going to be one of the new Jounin senseis. Can you imagine him with three green brats?"

Sakura grinned back. "Not really, but, it'll be good for him. I imagine Asuma has something to do with that."

"No doubt."

She liked hearing about everyone. Sometimes she wished it wasn't Ino telling her all about it, but… she was ok with that for now.

"How's your mom and dad?"

Ino sighed long and hard. "Honestly? They're good, but, they gave me hell for coming out to deliver the flowers to you today."

Sakura nodded, not needing an explanation.

"I just think they're all being so pigheaded."

The pinkette shrugged, not really bothered by it anymore. It wasn't the first time she'd had this conversation with Ino. "They have their reasons."

Ino frowned and kept her soft gaze on Sakura. "And what excuse do the rest of them have? Neji, Tenten, Lee? All of them."

Sakura sighed and took a sip of her cosmo. She set her glass down, licking her lips. "They have enough to deal with, Ino. Their families are a great pressure on them. The Hyuugas especially. Most of us in rookie nine were the heirs to our clans; it makes it harder when people expect things from you.

"Sometimes I wish Naruto wouldn't visit me so much; it would make it easier for him to marry Hinata."

"Don't say that, Sakura." Her expression was sad. "You know Naruto's going to do whatever the hell he wants; he's never cared about gossip."

"And you?" Sakura asked, her smile half hearted but genuine. "What's your excuse?"

Ino snorted. "I'm too stubborn. What are my parents going to do? Disown me? I'm an adult. Pretty soon I'll be leading the Yamanakas."

Sakura couldn't argue with that logic.

"Here you are, ladies. Two alfredos, bread sticks and salad. Do you need anything else?"

Both women shook their heads.

"Enjoy." She was gone.

Sakura started on her plate.

"So… gloom aside… Are you going to tell me why he sent you those flowers?" She grinned, taking a bite of a shrimp. Her fork was aimed at Sakura charismatically, prongs out. "You didn't sleep with him, did you?"

The pinkette coughed very suddenly on the pasta she had been in the process of swallowing; she reached for the glass of water that came with her drink, swallowing some it to dislodge the food in her throat.

Ino blinked at her. "Oh my god… you _did_? Sakura… I was _joking_…" she said between her friend's coughs, working the shock out of her system. "Are you alright?" she asked quickly, moving to stand.

"Fine," the pinkette managed to get out, breathing and drinking a little more. She motioned for her to sit back down as she gave her chest a few more pats. "I'm alright." She could breathe now.

"You slept with him?" the blonde deadpanned.

Sakura didn't say anything, feigning that she was still trying to get herself back in order a she wiped her face with a napkin.

"Sakura?"

The pinkette sighed and looked up at her friend.

"You did."

"…Yeah."

There was this long silence as both women stared at each other, expressionless and unspeaking. Neither could really gauge the other. In the background people laughed and shouted with the nightlife. Glasses and plates clinked from inside the restaurant where a bus boy was cleaning a table.

"Damn if I knew sleeping him would do the trick I would have done it years ago," The blonde said first.

"Ino."

She waved her hand. "I was joking, obviously," she muttered. She stilled a moment, set her fork down; again she looked at her friend, analyzing her with scrutinizing blue orbs. "So, what's the downside to all this…?"

"What, to him sending me flowers?"

Ino frowned. "No, you idiot. You've wasted half your life being in love with him. What's the problem? He wants to be with you, right? I mean, unless the flowers are some sort of apology…"

Sakura shook her head and pushed food around on her plate, looking down at it. "No, he's made it quite clear he wants to be with me."

"So…?"

Sakura sighed. "So, I've got a lot on my plate. Besides, there's Isao to consider."

"I'm not sure what the hell is keeping you too busy to have a man in your life; a good man at that… but…"

_If only you knew_, Sakura thought.

"Have you ever considered just… you know… keeping up the sex part?"

"Huh?" At this Sakura looked up at her.

"You know," she murmured, trying to be discreet. "For now, don't decide anything… just keep doing what you're doing."

Sakura eyed Ino for a moment, her own eyes now scrutinizing. "You mean I should sleep with him but don't make it complicated."

"Basically."

Sakura resisted the urge to grumble. Instead, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and dropped her fork on her plate, causing it to clink decisively.

"What?"

She pulled her hands away and settled her friend with a look. "Ino, we're practically in a relationship as it stands. He's at my house every time he's off duty, he always working with Isao, he eats dinner with us and on occasion he stays over in a guest room. The man is nearly infused into my life as it is. Sex would just make it a relationship.

"Completely."

Ino rolled her eyes. "No, it _wouldn't_. When you're in a relationship with someone you make room for them in your bottom dresser drawer, you tell them where you are all the time, you go on dates in public. Friends that fuck just meet up and do the nasty, Sakura.

"I mean," she continued, looking earnest, "would it really be so bad for you to have someone to let loose on once in a while? I know your sex life has to be as empty as a cobwebbed broom closet."

She wanted to argue, but, the blonde was right.

"Would it be so wrong to give yourself a moment of happiness once in a while? No one's asking you to love him… but, hunny, sometimes we all need to _feel_ like we're loved… even if it's only physical."

Would it be, Sakura mused, looking out at Konoha as Ino's words sunk in. If only the blonde knew why.

"C'mon. Eat. You need it more than I do," she told her next, trying to change the subject. "I don't want you carrying leftovers home. You don't eat enough as it is…"

Sakura listened as she babbled on, her mind filled with more considerations than before.

…

**.**

…

"Haruno-sama… I didn't expect to see you here tonight. Do you need anything?" the desk clerk asked her as she passed by the hospital main floor desk.

Sakura waved her off. "No, thank you. I'm just here to check scheduling for next week and make sure the supplies are in order."

"Would you like me to send someone to assist you?"

"No thank you," she called behind her as she continued on down to her office. She unlocked the door and stepped inside; the light was switched on next to her. She located the supply closet keys for each floor. Moments later she locked her door back and headed down the main wing. Her eyes skimmed over the schedule for next week briefly.

Himiko had done exactly what she said. Satisfied she continued onto the first floor closet. She eyed the shelves, looking over plastic wrapped needles and tubing for ventilators. Satisfied once more she left and went to the next floor.

The light was switched on in the next closet and she skimmed the items, counting.

And then there was darkness; a click sounded and Sakura jumped, turning swiftly. She dropped her keys and reached for the kunai in the pouch strapped about her hips.

Before she could draw the blade her wrists were locked against the wall and a strong male frame pressed into her chest. She inhaled sharply, readying herself to lift her knee in just the right spot. Who in the hell—.

"_Sakura…_" his voice reverberated in his chest, stilling her; the feeling was like thunder against her own. Her name was a whisper in her ear; a reverent caress beyond the passage of his lips.

Slowly, she exhaled and relaxed as she closed and opened her eyes; several bursts of air left her mouth across his skin, hot and shaky. "Sasuke…?" She drew his scent in, her cheek was hairsbreadth across his; the hair there pricked and scratched her softly.

His lips pressed into hers and she inhaled through her nose sharply, almost rigid; then… then she was opening her mouth to him, soft and slow at first. He released her hands; his digits trailed up her arms, leaving gooseflesh in their path. She felt his fingers on her sides as he drew up the hem of her shirt. His thumbs made circles on the hard plane of her stomach where he could reach between them, slow and agonizing.

She pushed back into his chest and reached up, wrapping her arms about his neck. She drug her fingers up the back of his neck, feeling the soft skin beneath; she felt his hair, combed the soft strands through her fingers. She could hear the clang of his headband as it dropped, dislodged, from her ministrations onto the concrete floor.

That feeling was back.

He trailed his lips down her neck, sucking, biting, kissing—causing her to gasp; his tongue ran over her ear and she shuddered, pushing into him. He took a hold of her ass, digging his fingers into her flesh beneath the material of her skirt as he thrust her hips into his and pressed her painfully between the wall of his chest and concrete behind her. She wrapped her legs about his waist as his nails dug into her thighs.

That feeling…

His lips on hers were brutal in their gentle ache. He poured into her, flowing through his touch… his caress. His breath was hot against her cheek, her lips; she couldn't breathe. She choked on him, savoring it.

That ache…

He lifted her with his legs, pulling her up with his hands and moved to settle her on a small table set up against a wall. His fingers pushed the hem of her skirt up, thumbs running a trail of fire up her thighs; his nails bit into her under their hungry grip.

She took hold of his flack vest and pushed it aside as she mentally cried for air, cried to catch up with herself, as she tried to reign in control of her hammering heart. It dropped to the floor with a thump. She tugged at his shirt; buttons flew, clattering as she pulled it apart. He ripped the lace from her; her skirt was up around her hips by the time she was hurriedly undoing the zipper of his pants.

He never stopped kissing her, drinking her in, pressing his lips into hers in a desperate draw that tugged at her energy… her heart. She took his cheeks in her hands, controlling it; she tugged at his lower lip, biting softly. He jumped.

"Sasuke," she breathed, unable to stop herself; she could feel his thighs spreading hers; she could feel the tickle of his skin rubbing hers. "Sasuke…"

Then he was inside her, giving her what she wanted; hard and without warning.

She cried out, shuddering between breaths as she clung to him, clawing at his bare back. She could feel him shudder over her as he pulled her to the edge and began to move, thrust; each movement pressed her back further and harder into the wall; she didn't care. She heard his breath in her ear, urging her; her mouth opened and she arched into him, crying for more. She dug her fingers into his hair, cutting into his scalp as he adjusted, as she moved under him.

In the dark she searched for his eyes as she pulled back, holding onto him.

That feeling…

His eyes met hers; sweat rolled off his nose and made a trail of tears down her cheek. Ebony caught her breath, captured the emerald as she cried out again, saying his name like a desperate mantra. She felt his lips again, soft and unrelenting as she clung to him, as she arched and shuddered beneath him one final time. She cherished the whisper of her name on his lips, hot across her ear, her flesh as she cried his name without refrain.

That feeling…

She closed her eyes, bathing in him.

That ache…

* * *

**AN :: **You know, I just couldn't wait; i couldn't stop writing. Gah! It's been so long since I've just written, since I've had time to. Anyway, PLEASE tell me what you think of this recent update. And if you're into my lemons... let me know what you thought of this one? Ne? There will be other lemons in this story and I'd like to know if what you guys though. Please? Yes?

**-Blade**


	6. Chapter 5

.

* * *

"_That feels better."_

_She nodded, biting her lower lip as she focused on the task at hand. Warm, green-blue chakra seeped from her palms, wrapped around her fingers and stopped just above her wrists. She stared at the space they occupied on his bare chest. "There's scar tissue… old scar tissue. Some lacerations are new, but, I'm closing them up. The cilia aren't too terrible damaged, but, blood has been mucking them up... I'm not sure why." She sighed, obviously bothered… frustrated._

_Dark orbs stared down at her, watching her concerned features… her brow furrowing. He could see it upset her. He reached out, placing a hand over her wrist and encircled it in his hand. When she looked up at him he addressed her softly, "Just do what you can."_

_She frowned at him, green hues narrowing. "_What_ I would like to do it fix this. Even if I repair all the damage it will come back until I find out where it's originating. I'm going to have to give you regular treatments if…" She trailed off, softening. Her whole form went slack and she stared at his chest, looking angrier than before._

_His thumb rubbed over the inside of her wrist; a gentle gesture meant to convey his understanding in what she'd realized._

"_It's not fair," he heard her whisper as her hands slipped down his chest, her work done. He could already breathe fully._

"_Life," he murmured, "often isn't."_

_Her eyes flashed up to his. "So that's it is it? You're just going to let Sasuke kill you? Go on thinking you're this monster that willingly murdered everyone to test your ability?" It was the first time she'd voiced it since their connection; it was the first time she'd let the memories that burned in her brain _have_ a voice._

_He sighed and released her hand. "Sakura—."_

"_You didn't do _anything_ wrong."_

_His eyes drew back to hers; his features were soft as her eyes pleaded up to his. "I became what Konoha required me to be. I am my duty; I am shinobi. Sometimes, the needs of many are more important than the needs of the one, the few."_

"_And Sasuke?" she snapped, glaring with pain in her eyes. "He's one. You left him alive. Where was your sense of cold shinobi duty then?"_

_His eyes flared at her; chakra rose in a feeling of aggression he'd hadn't expected her to pull from him. The flame licked his insides and clawed up a wall within his chest, screaming at him to do something._

_Her eyes dropped from his and he watched as she hung her head. He watched as a wetness hit the stone floor, heard her bitter whisper. "Damnit…" Anger slowly receded from him, coiling back into the depths of his own darkness._

"_I'm so _tired_ of crying and not being able to do _anything_."_

_He recalled his brother then, pitiful boy weeping on the ground because he done something to piss off their father again… He recalled the way his shoulders dropped, breaking every ounce of spirit he had left in his small body, the way he shook and crumbled, whispering, "Ni-san… why can't I do anything right…?"_

_Itachi closed his eyes and reached out, he took hold of Sakura's shoulders and pulled her into his lap. No resistance was put up as he encircled her in his arms and dropped her head under his chin. She curled into herself and tried to still the tears that fell on his chest._

"_He needs you… you just can't see that," she breathed shakily across his skin, his collarbone._

"_No…" he murmured, "… he needs you."_

_She blinked slowly; he could feel her lashes moving against his skin, moistened from her tears. "He won't let himself," she whispered, "he… he won't let me help him. _Anyone_."_

_He was quiet for a moment, thinking in the consequence of his own thoughts as he often did. She was a lot stronger than she imagined herself to be; voicing that wouldn't convince her of anything._

"_Time… changes all of us, Chīsana Hana. Memories, have a way of killing us slowly. That is the life we choose for ourselves… As shinobi. But, at the end of the day, when the dust settles, we all need someone._

"_Will you be there for my brother?"_

"_Because you can't," she said what he couldn't, what he didn't want to voice because in his own way he didn't want to upset her any further. He was resolute to what he was going to do, what he was going to be for Sasuke. She couldn't change that; no one could._

_She pushed the tears back down; she tried to as her chest burned… for Sasuke, for Itachi…for her inability to change the course of fate… for it all. "I will," she promised._

"_There is no shame in crying, Chīsana Hana."_

_And so she did._

* * *

Chapter Five

The words ran together on the page, swimming and overlapping one another. She dragged a hand through her soft, pink tendrils, pen folded between the slender digits as her hand stilled on her temple; they fell in a mess down her back. Green hues were lethargic and dull, but, no less determined as she stared down at the page before her.

Uchiha Sasami was a very intelligent woman; Sakura could relate to her in that aspect. She spent a lot of her time talking about what she was working on for black ops and the Hokage when she wasn't talking about the love of her life, Shisui. The details weren't all there as far as her work went, but, she gave enough without giving enough to get in trouble should anyone have found her journal or questioned its contents.

She spent a lot of time with Shisui and Itachi; she even went on a number of missions with them and had mentioned doing so before she married him. She talked about her sister and her sister's husband. Later in the entries, she talked about her brother-in-law's death and how awful that was for Rukia.

From her perspective Itachi was a determined, duty-bound shinobi; he took his career very seriously and rarely ever deviated from it unless the situation called for it. He looked up to her husband, but, not in the way a real younger brother looks up to an older brother; he admired him, but, he considered some of his tactics a little overkill at times. In a way, her perspective of Itachi and Shisui's relationship was not at all a little unlike Naruto and Sasuke's, however a little more mature. They fought quietly and regularly and usually found a middle-ground in their debates due to logic. She had smiled momentarily at the thought of Sasuke and Naruto ever doing that—even now.

Shisui was just as duty-bound; he was loyal to the Uchiha in a way that was almost poetic. Sasami admired her husband for this trait even though she was not an Uchiha by birth; she had a very strong sense of family and what was expected her; thus, had no real problem fitting into the clan or her husband's life. This she elaborated very little on, but, it was made known in a way that was almost… out of place. Why, Sakura couldn't fathom.

She loved Rukia. There were quite a few entries near the end of the journal outlining the birth of her sister's children and how happy she was for her. It talked about her farm and the troubles of her outside family. From what she could gather at the present and with the entries… Rukia had never remarried. Sakura guessed the woman ran the farm by herself; she raised her children alone. Her home was small, so it was doubtful she had any other family living with her.

Sakura sat back in the swivel chair and dropped her hands to her lap as she stared up at the ceiling of her small, home office study. She stuck the pen between her upper lip and nose.

Rukia wasn't so hard for her to relate to, she surmised.

Still, none of this information, while fun to read, and, while it gave her more insight into Itachi's life in the clan—especially near the massacre day—gave her anything to help her find information on freeing him from his crimes.

So far, she knew Shisui married Sasami while they were working together in ANBU; she had been friends with both Itachi and Shisui for a year or two before the marriage occurred. Itachi and Shisui had a good relationship as friends—very good. She knew there was suspicion among the Uchiha military police for Shisui's suicide; there had been accusations that Itachi had caused it, but, nothing was determined and thus the case was left unsolved.

Based on Sasami's entries about Itachi, the death of his best friend at his hands made little sense. The entries ended before then, so, Sasami hadn't written about it. That fact surprised her because the entries felt therapeutic and not simply historical in their context. Why would Sasami not have written about the death of her husband? It's not something she would have hidden; everyone knew about it… And the massacre happened a week after her last entry. Why hadn't she written more? There was always the possibility that it was just too traumatic for her… but, for some reason Sakura didn't want to believe that; of course, she could have just been reaching for straws.

Still, there was something going on… something written between the lines of the last few entries that Sakura couldn't place. The way she wrote them was somehow different from the rest… the _tone_ was different.

Sakura sat back up and dropped her pen from her face to her open hands in her lap.

She leaned forward and placed her elbows on the desk; she stared at the wall ridden with pinned up papers before her… pictures of Isao… Naruto… Sasuke…; she didn't really _look_ at them. She tapped the pen on her chin, scrutinizing the space.

She'd spent the better part of the last three days reading, working, taking notes out of the little book in front of her; nothing was coming of it—nothing. If she wasn't at the hospital she'd been scarcely doing anything else. Sleep was becoming a myth and she didn't even realize it.

If her estimations were correct, based on what Itachi had told her, the order for the massacre had been given... the night before Sasami's last entry; which meant everything about the woman's evasiveness in writing stemmed from her husband's death… something that had also occurred the next evening by all documented accounts.

Sakura dropped her pen and looked back down in the little, brown book. She flipped to the last paged entry and skimmed the lines. She'd been with her sister that day… most of it, actually. She talked about the family and the babies. _And_, she talked about Shisui coming to get her on an _urgent_ matter. But, she didn't go beyond that.

Sakura tapped her finger and then snapped the book shut.

She would have to speak with Rukia again.

"What are you working on, Okasan?"

Sakura almost jumped. She turned, looking over her shoulder where her son smirked at her, looking _very_ smug. She narrowed her eyes and frowned. "How long have you been there?"

He shrugged and took a step back as she swiveled her chair to face him. "Not long." He looked honest enough; she'd skin him otherwise and he knew it.

She sighed and ran a hand down her face; she pinched the bridge of her nose. Perhaps she'd been working a little long if the scamp had snuck up on her. She rubbed circles there betwixt her thumb and pointer finger. "You are your father's son," she murmured.

Her hand dropped as instantly as the words slipped from her lips; her eyes locked on her son's. Her face was poised and she resisted the urge to frown as she gauged his reaction to her words.

She was stilled.

He too was quietly staring at her; his face was impassive and expressionless in as much as her lover's had always been. She didn't know what to say. A knife could have cut through the sudden, unexpected silence that passed between them.

"You've never talked about him before."

"No… I haven't." Her voice was a murmur once more. Her eyes narrowed only slightly.

His lips moved into a frown; it wasn't one of sadness, but, more of thought. She knew that look; he was trying to figure what to ask her, if at all. He wanted to know if it was ok to ask anything; at this point she couldn't begrudge him _anything_. "Ask," she ordered softly.

He stuck his hands into his pockets, but, he didn't stop looking at her. If he were any other child he would have shifted his feet, looked down at them and then perhaps hazarded a glance back up at her. But, he didn't. "I've heard a lot of people talk about him," he said slowly, quietly. His eyes narrowed much like hers had; it was quiet scrutiny.

She inhaled deeply. "Nothing good, I'm sure." Unfortunately.

"Sasuke never says anything about him; like you."

She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"What kind of…" he hesitated.

"Man? Shinobi?" she started. "What kind of person was he?"

Isao nodded.

Sakura took a deep breath in; this was treacherous ground. She'd always been happy her son was so insightful; even as a toddler he'd never asked about why the other children had a father and he didn't. He'd never voiced his concern or questioned the man that was Uchiha Itachi. When the bullying started Sakura had been devastated; she expected it, but, nothing quite prepared her for the defeated, pained look her son hid from her. She never asked about it, but, she had always tried to be there for him as best she could… as much as she could. She just… never knew what to tell him. He always appeared to sense that.

"Your father was…" she trailed off, considering her words as she held his gaze. "He… he was good man, Isao. He was an amazing shinobi and he loved those who were important to him…"

"Then why murder them?"

She expected that. Sakura pulled her lips into her mouth and bit down in a way that pressed them out of sight. This is why she didn't talk about it. What was she supposed to tell him? He wasn't stupid; she couldn't sugar coat it for him, nor could she tell him the truth.

"Sometimes," she whispered as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees, "there are things that we do… that shinobi do… that don't always make sense to us at the time, that make sense to anyone."

"That doesn't answer my question, Okasan." He was almost accusatory.

She resisted the urge to sigh. "I don't think I can answer your question, Isao. All I can tell you is that your father was more than what people imagined him to be. He was a shinobi who questioned little and went beyond what was asked of him. He was intelligent, skilled…he rarely got angry at anyone or anything; if he did, he controlled it admirably. He…" she hesitated again, stilling the hammer in her heart as she fought back tears threatening to start. "He would have loved you very much," she whispered hoarsely. "That is the important part."

"Did you love him, Okasan?"

It wasn't fair that he made her feel like she'd been hit with a ton of bricks. It wasn't _fair_ she had to answer him, but, she did. This question, above all others, was probably the most important to him. He didn't know the man his father was, but, he knew his mother. He would base his entire perspective off this one answer. She had to be honest with him.

"Yes, I love him very much… I—."

"You still love him?" This time he was urgent; he took a step closer to her; his knees bumped hers.

She reached out and took his hands in hers, pulled them out of his pockets; she squeezed his two smaller ones in her two larger as she leaned closer to his face. "Yes, I love your father; even now. But, I was not and am mot _in_ love with your father. Do you understand what I mean when I say that?" He was a smart boy, but, this might be a little beyond him without explanation.

His face made no expression, but, she could see his eyes contemplating the matter. "I know people have sex when they are not in love, Okasan."

"Yes, you do."

"You cared about my father."

"Very much."

He stilled again, considering.

She could see that even if he understood he needed to hear more; he needed to hear _her_ say it. "Your father meant a lot to me; he came to mean a lot to me when were together due to less than normal circumstances. We shared a mutual pain; that mutual pain brought us together physically.

"We needed each other in way we didn't even understand until it occurred."

He nodded, finally; she knew he understood even if he didn't explain it back to her. "I have one more question."

"Alright."

"Do you regret it?"

Anyone else would have said yes, if for nothing else than to ease their child's fear of not being wanted. But, it wasn't like that with him; it had never been that easy for her. And she wouldn't insult where he came from, his own intelligence, by acting any differently.

She shook her head. "No. Your father helped me grow in that short week in a ways I never had my entire life; he taught me things I could not have learned otherwise. He gave me you; and that is something I will always be thankful for." She reached up then, pushing hair out of his eyes; her palm brushed across his temple and she swallowed back a sob she wouldn't voice.

"Thank you," he replied.

She nodded.

"I'm going to go outside, Okasan. You're going to join me in a little while?"

That's right; she still needed to run him through those chakra control exercises. She nodded, dropping her hands. "Yes."

He looked like he wanted to give her a hug, but, stopped and took a step back. "Alright, Okasan." And then he left, quietly and with understanding. Which, was good… she didn't know if she could have held back tears if his small frame had wrapped about hers.

She exhaled and dropped her face into her hands; her fingers pressed into her tears ducts, pushing back the pain, the memories. He'd always been right about that.

Memories had a way of killing you… slowly. Somehow, that had become her life's mantra; aside from that beautiful child it felt as though that was all he left her with… truly.

"Sakura."

…

**.**

…

The screen door opened and shut behind him; he rolled his right shoulder and rubbed at the ever present ache. A wince laced his features; his mouth moved into a grimace as his eyes narrowed in the action.

The next time Tsunade jumped an over-paying escort mission on him he was going to hurt someone; maybe Naruto.

Dark hues glanced around; the living room was empty and the rest of the house appeared fairly dark. His hands were on his hips a moment before he just turned into the kitchen. It too was empty, he noted, before grabbing a bottle of juice out of the fridge and taking a sip.

His eyes glanced up at the clock on the wall; it was just after 5; Isao should be home and Sakura would be off work. They should both be here today because the test for his headband was tomorrow; Sakura had said she would run through his chakra control exercises with him.

He slid the cap back on the bottle as his eyes remained there.

She hadn't said a word to him after they'd left the supply closet; someone had needed her and he presumed he'd talk to her later. He'd wanted to see her again that night, but, then Tsunade had given him the escort mission and he'd been gone for three and half days.

He set the bottle on the island and stared at it for a while. He tapped at it, hand still wrapped around the base of it.

He was always marveled by how much he wanted to know what she was thinking at any given moment; there was once a time when he hadn't cared at all. Now, now he just wished he understood her better…

He turned his head as the patter of feat was heard from the back end of the house.

"Isao," he murmured, sensing the chakra.

He didn't run up to his room… no, by the sound of his footsteps he'd gone into Sakura's study.

He left his bottle on the island as he walked out of the kitchen and across the living room. He headed down the hall to his left and passed by her room. There was a light coming out of her study; she was probably working. It was odd she hadn't started dinner yet…

"Your father was…"

He stilled.

With each word, with each confession his breath caught in his throat—his chest—without his consent or control. He was in a haze, captor to the conversation between his nephew and his lover. He could do nothing but listen; his mind could not form thought and his heart could not form feeling.

"Alright, Okasan."

He blinked and heard footsteps. His hands form signs and he faded into the wall next to him just as his nephew came whizzing by. When he was certain the boy was gone he shifted, slowly, out of the jutsu. His eyes lingered down the way his nephew disappeared before turning back to the doorway; where Sakura was.

His feet moved on their own. He found himself staring down at her; her face was in her hands.

"Sakura."

She looked up at him; the pinked rims of her depths were holding back moisture. Her face was making a poor attempt at being impassive to him. She stared at him like that a moment longer before inhaling, wiping her face and then standing.

"I didn't expect to see you for another day," she whispered. "Naruto told me you were on an escort mission."

He swallowed. His voice was slow, distant, "Probably complaining he couldn't go…"

She forced a strained smile. "Yeah, he was, actually." She turned around, back to him and began to clean up her desk. Things were put away in drawers, folders and then a large filing cabinet attached to her desk.

"Are you staying for dinner? Knowing you, you haven't eaten anything decent since you got home. Road food isn't exactly—."

"Sakura."

She stilled.

"Why did you lie to him?" When she didn't respond he spoke again. "He's not just your son; he's my nephew. I—."

"You were listening in." She turned around to face him, face once again impassive; her thoughts were hidden to him. Aggression was poised in her green hues at her realization.

His jaw tightened. "I came to see you."

She shook her head, looking as though she couldn't quite believe what he'd done. Her eyes locked on his, hands on her hips. "It's not your business what I tell him about his father."

His eyes narrowed at her words; the implication burned a heat through his chest in a way he couldn't stop. None of his business? "It is when you lie about him, Sakura."

She didn't respond. She brushed past him and out the door.

He turned to go after her, stalking down the hall. He reached for her, grabbing her arm. She jerked in his grip and whirled to face him. Her hair was a mess in her features, half sticking to her cheeks as it fell to her shoulders.

She spoke before he could say anything. "Why is it you never talk to him about Itachi, Sasuke?" she whispered, straining and not fighting his grip. "Because you can't?"

"Don't turn this around on me."

But she didn't stop. "What would you tell him if he asked you, Sasuke? What everyone else tells him? That he was a murderer, a betrayer, a demon incarnate who did what he did to _test_ himself? A villain that scared his little brother so he could take his eyes from him?" Her words were a deadly, breathy whisper.

"Shut up," he snapped.

She kept pushing; this time her voice rose, nearly yelling. "Would you tell him his mother was a _whore_ for sleeping with the most notorious S-class criminal of our time? Would you tell him he's a bastard son that deserves whatever people say about him?"

He shoved her away as if burned. "Shut up, Sakura."

She stumbled and regained herself by placing a hand on the wall. Her gaze bore green flame into his as she exhaled, breathing heavily. The silence after that was long, ongoing. Neither could really catch their breath.

Finally, she closed her eyes and turned back to the wall; she leaned into it. "I'm going. Isao needs me to help him. I'm… I'm done." She turned, leaving. He watched her back until she faded from his sight.

His own eyes shut, his jaw tightened; his fist slammed into the wall, rattling it.

* * *

**AN :: **I wasn't sure about the fight in this chapter. I thought it should have been longer, but, ah well. When I think about it everything about Sasuke is quick, painful and to the point. I'll deal with it.

I hope you're happy about this update. I hung on completing for _two days_ until I planned the rest of the story out. But, it's planned and good, so, I feel better. Oh, if you're reading Nightingale… That should be updated in a few days—I'm not sure. But, whatevs, I love you guys.

—**Blade **


	7. Chapter 6

.

* * *

_Tin scraped against tin; liquid sloshed relaxedly as emerald hues kept watching the pea-colored substance that was supper. Steam rose softly from the top; the stout pot hovered over three grey stones, held up by an only slightly larger grate with legs._

_Careful digits lifted the ladle, pouring out much of the soup. She brought it to her lips and took a sip, testing the flavor. A slight frown touched the corners of her mouth; it wasn't gourmet, of that she was certain._

"_Soup?" she asked the man next to her, not bothering to look up from the bowl she was pouring into._

"_Please."_

_She gave a little smile at his response before handing the bowl off to him. Her bare fingers barely touched his as the exchange occurred; the contact was not adverse. She poured herself a bowl before settling back further on her palate and getting comfortable. The spoon in her grasp stirred, mixing the contents more so before she began to eat._

_A trail of sweat rolled down her back, making her glad for the lack of sleeves her top offered and the lack of pants; it was humid for some reason. She glanced over at older Uchiha; he was gradually spooning up the warm substance and eating. His cloak had been pulled off of his shoulders and sat in a crumpled pile next to him; he must have been hot too._

_Maybe soup hadn't been the best choice._

_Three days… three days since the accident that entrapped them both, and, since she'd learned the unquestionable truth of Itachi's betrayal. Yesterday was what she liked to call the day the dam broke; it was the day they'd both finally vocalized their acknowledgement of what they knew about each other because of the brief connection they'd shared. Yesterday was also the first day she'd broken down. It was funny how mere moments could feel like hours, days like months._

_From that moment… the tension was gone; while few words were ever spoken, the distinct stifling ache for air was gone. He wasn't her enemy anymore; she wasn't his. She didn't know what to call it, but… things had changed. There was a lot she wanted to say, to ask him; something always stopped her. The comfortable quiet that surrounded them now was welcome and she felt like speaking would encroach on that, shatter something fragile._

_Today though… the tug to be quiet wasn't as strong anymore. "Itachi-san."_

_He looked up from his bowl and over at her, abyssal hues passive and contemplative; she had his attention._

_Her eyes narrowed only a little as she prepared her voice, her words. She let her hand drop back to her bowl, the spoon slipped back under the surface of the pea-colored liquid. "What was Sasuke like as a child?"_

_He didn't appear surprised by her question; however, the moment she'd asked it, she could see he was thinking over a response. It was subtle, and, she imagined only the very perceptive would pick up on it._

"_You weren't around him?"_

_Sakura shook her head. "I didn't meet Sasuke until just before I entered the Academy. I barely knew him then until we were in the same class together."_

"_I see…" Itachi looked down at his bowl. Half of the contents were gone._

_Sakura took another sip of her own and watched him in quiet scrutiny. A long moment passed, then… She blinked, stilled. Surprise washed over her when a smile crossed his features, slow and very real. She'd seen a great many emotions cross Itachi's face; hate, anger, aggression, pain, repressed rage, and even a faint show of fear when it flinted across his eyes; however, she'd never seen him _smile, _not like this. His face lit up; his dark hues looked less burdened. He looked more at ease with his thoughts than she imagined he ever had been._

_Her heart jumped in her chest as this odd feeling of seeing something no one had for a very long time, perhaps never had at all._

"_He was a brat."_

_She blinked again; she felt jarred when his eyes locked on hers. That smile… directed at her… she swallowed. It was almost like he was smiling _at_ her; she didn't really know how to receive it._

"_Always underfoot; when he was baby, barely walking, he clung to me as if he forgot he ever had a mother."_

_Sakura found the infectious action curling at her own lips; her soup was completely forgotten as his deep voice, light with humor, continued on._

"_He hated when I left on missions; which, was quite often. He pouted and tried to hide it, but, it was never very easy for Sasuke to keep his emotions to himself." Itachi set his bowl down in front of him; the metal clinked against the flat stone beneath. "He liked to play at the park when no one else was around but us; sometimes, because he begged me, I'd take him out at night when our parents were asleep. We'd play until he sat down and fell asleep._

"_He smiled a lot; he was always laughing when someone did something to amuse him. He often got into trouble simply because he was too hasty, too impatient to wait."_

"_You paint a very different image than the boy I grew up with," Sakura sighed out, smile still present if not a little faint. "Well, I guess he was impatient and hasty… mostly about getting better to…" She trailed off, stopping once she recalled _why_ Sasuke had been working so hard._

_She set her bowl down. Her elbow came to rest on her knee and she leaned forward, her chin in her palm. "He never smiled much; not because something was funny anyway. Sasuke spent so much of his time trying to suppress everything. He was angry; he still is. But," she went on, staring at the pot, or, perhaps through it, "there were times when… I think he was happy. Usually when he won at something, or, beat Naruto." The smile returned for a brief moment. "They were always at odds, fighting and trying to be better than the other…_

"_Naruto misses him."_

"_You miss him."_

_She looked over at him, emerald locking on ebony. It would be so _easy_ to be angry with him, the man sitting bare inches away from her. It would also be very easy to blame who the boy she loved became on him. She wouldn't. In reality, he was just as much a victim as all of them were. His suffering mirrored her own… and Naruto's._

"_Of course I miss him," she whispered, lifting up and dropping her hand from her cheek. "It's hard not to miss the boy you wanted to share your first kiss with… the one you shared your first mission with, cried over because he bled all over you as you held him, the one you ache for because you can't help it._

"_Sometimes… sometimes I just wish I could move on. Being his friend wouldn't hurt as much."_

_She didn't jump when he reached out, hand cupping her cheek; she closed her eyes when his thumb caressed downward, shooting warmth across her in a way that could only be described consciously as comforting._

"_I told you yesterday," he murmured. "There's no shame in tears."_

_She turned her head toward him, green hues shooting open. "I know, but… I guess talking to you about it… I don't feel like crying anymore. Maybe it's just quiet acceptance now."_

"_Perhaps." His hand started to drop away from her._

_She brought hers up and took his just before he pulled away; she squeezed._

_While her eyes still retained a hint of grief the tug at her lips was genuine. "I think, in way I'm glad I got stuck here with you." When he raised a brow at her she couldn't stop herself from chuckling. "It's been a while since I've been able to really smile, to laugh. It's from a very unlikely source; knowing someone else understands how I feel eases the grief._

"_I don't _need_ to cry anymore. Thank you."_

_She wasn't sure, but, she thought she might have seen surprise and… something else unnamed flash in his eyes as she nearly grinned up at him._

_And once again, he gifted her with a very real smile himself, soft as it was. "…You're welcome, __Chīsana Hana."_

* * *

Chapter Six

Condensation rolled off a pipe; the drip, the splash of water into a puddle gathering on flat concrete echoed down the square corridor. The sounds fell half in sync and half out with the treble of footsteps.

The whip of material sliding against material, fabric against fabric, sifted in the mixture of steps and drips; a shadow danced along the cold walls, growing larger and smaller with each bend and curve into a diverted hallway.

White porcelain painted in red flashed as a florescent light trailed overhead; the ebony of a hooded cloak danced and bent with movement around the tall form. Closer inspection and a keen eye would reveal to the onlooker the mask of a bear.

Darkness enclosed around them, swathing them as the cloak they donned. A creak cut across the air; a bare hand pressed onto a door, slipped out from the opening of the fabric around them to do so. Another creak; an unstoppable slam.

Unquestioning eyes observed the half lit and half abyssal square room before them; it was one they visited, as any one of their organization did, fairly often. The same dim florescent lighting that flickered along the hallway was reflected in here. Approximately fifteen feet in front of the agent, elevated by twelve inches of concrete steps, was a curtained room framed by decorative wood pillars. Beyond it the dancing illumination of a candle sparked, casting a shadowed figure settled on a cushion and in front of a small table. The soundless scrawling of brush strokes across parchment was heard until they stopped; the hand stilled; the shadow quit its movement. The click of wood against wood cut across the silence as the agent came forward and knelt. The hushed whisper of the cloak flinted in their ears as it pooled around them.

"Shishou," the masculine voice echoed from the mask of a bear.

From the shadows slunk a form; tall, sinuous, feline in grace, she stepped out as the ink pours from the bottle of its confinement. Black leather covered her entirely; luxurious crimsoned hair cascaded down her back, caressing the tightness of her ass with every carefully planned movement. The blank white of a mask, lacking eyeholes, fell on his kneeling form and remained there even as she came to stand in front of the curtained room. She sat on the steps, at ease with herself.

"Report," she ordered, the voice of his master.

"Haruno Sakura has been in contact with Kato Rukia. She visited her home and was allowed entrance last Saturday at twelve-hundred hours. An hour later she left the residence with the journal in her possession. Since then she has been observed reading through its contents with some determination."

"Opinion, soldier," the woman replied swiftly, and at the same time easily.

"I do not believe Haruno has decoded the journal, if there is a code assumed to be written into its contents. Her actions lend the observer to assume she is frustrated and resolute, but, lacking the level of accomplishment someone would emanate should they have done something difficult which would lead them to a solution."

"Noted." Her voice was crisp and lacked unnecessary verbalization.

He watched as she stilled, turned her head towards the curtain and then stayed that way for a long moment. The white face of the mask came back to him fully.

"Would it be preferred to eliminate the target while it can still be accomplished easily?"

"Do you think yourself capable of such a feat, soldier?" the woman replied.

He didn't reply, unsure if he should. Was his capacity or skills being questioned?

She chuckled uncharacteristically. "Foolish little boy," she whispered. "You underestimate the target. Haruno Sakura is no mere Jounin agent… she has been taught by elites, fought with elites, taken down elites… Do not discredit her simply because she's forgone the field in place of raising her son, wherein her duties are more lent to the infirmary.

"You will die.

"If she doesn't get to you first that little red demon of hers will, or, the Uchiha she once called her teammate. I won't imagine you've overlooked the fact that she has two Sharingan users in her company regularly; don't doubt the benefit of training alongside perfection." Somehow he imaged she was smirking behind the glassy-white. "Perfection tends to…

"…demand perfection in return."

He swallowed. "…Noted."

"Your orders are to continue on as you have; do not act, watch. Return in a week's time and report again.

"Dismissed."

He stood, bowed and turned. As his hand took hold of the door, intent on opening it, he stopped, her voice calling him.

"If foolish action lends you the reaper you will be forgotten; that is the nature of this organization."

The warning was clear. He paused but a moment longer before shifting back into the shadows and out of the room.

…As all good tools did.

…

**.**

…

At one point in his life Sasuke had abhorred the expression of any feeling; he'd sought the iron-clad emotionless cold stare his brother once fixed him with on more than one occasion. Anger was thrust deep down into the impossibly black chambers of his subconscious; love was a distraction he ignored and forced himself to never feel; everyone became disposable, even himself, so long as the goal was met.

There were times he hid his loss of control from everyone around him. Silently, he would go to the shadows, finding quiet and take his frustrations out on anything in his path; there was no stopping until he was sweating, half broken and meant for the meager comfort his mattress provided.

And nothing really pissed him off more that his brother winning; nothing.

But, he wasn't seventeen anymore; and, the ache in his chest had more to do with Sakura than his brother, that's what he told himself. It had nothing to do with how that shadow hung over him, clawed at him, harassing him in the hazed afterimages he forgot once he roused himself; it had everything to do with her lying to his nephew… with her somehow, in some twisted way, explaining away Itachi's actions. The action, her words, reopened old wounds, tore them asunder in way he hadn't ever expected to feel since that night so long ago; he'd been left standing there, staring at her, his control slipping when she told him, yes, she'd slept with his brother, that yes, it was his child growing in her womb.

His head dropped between his hands; he held it, half hunched over as he fought the urge to break the bench beneath him. At twenty-eight he grasped how illogical it was, and, knew by now it wouldn't do much to temper aggression he felt.

His mouth opened and he panted; he fought with his own willpower to stop the persistent beating of his heart and the strain of his lungs as they reached for oxygen. Soot-lashed hoods shut painfully tight and he repressed the urge to cry out; he was hitting a wall—again. Fighting against himself, his own demons, had never ended well.

No one made him ache like her. How had that happened?

How did she weave herself into his blood, under his skin; how had she managed to create the crumbling, tangible, breaking of an organ he fought to admit she had a hold on?

He found himself in the child she once was, trailing after him, telling him of her love even while he pushed her aside and ignored her in lieu of better things, things he thought were better; that's all they were—things. He could only watch as memories washed over him, wedging a pick into a hairline crack around that organ.

He pressed his thumbs into his tear ducks, erratic breath bursting past his lips.

"_I love you so much!"_

Her child-voice rang an echo in his mind.

"_If you stay with me I'll make sure you won't regret it!"_

He felt his face heat up; his throat caught and he stifled it; the burn was in his eyes, forcing its way out.

The regrets numbered the accomplishments.

There was a time, once, when he knew she was right behind him, running after him, always in the shadow of his chosen path; her fingertips kept grazing his back, reminding of what he'd left behind.

He was staring at her back, fingertips just barely missing her as he reached out.

He wanted to see her smile, laugh, scream at him; anything was better than the cold, lack-luster wall she placed in front of her. He could see nothing in her eyes, or, in the expression she offered up to him. Ice was the blanket she borrowed from him, had taken from his shoulders and now cloaked herself in. It wasn't very often he saw flickers of the girl he once knew, and, it was never directed at him.

He wiped a hand down his face, dragging skin in his wake; a ragged exhale left him as he leaned back into the bench. Dark hues took in Konoha as bare hands rested on his thighs. Slowly, the hateful beat in his chest came back to something close to normal. The color in his face returned, looking less like a mixture of grief and anger summoned in red.

Could he honestly say he'd forgiven her for that? For bearing his brother's child? There was nothing to forgive; he knew that. But the heart and the mind were two very different things. He couldn't help the immature, trigger-happy feelings from his misguided youth that jumped to action; they demanded he once again revisit conclusions he'd grown from and out of. It was _her_ fault, his seventeen-year old self whispered coldly, venom laced in red with ebony tomoe activated; _bitch_, he snapped, _hate her_, he continued, face a devoid of anything.

He closed his eyes and let his head drop back; black bangs brushed his cheeks before falling into an odd direction.

"_Foolish little brother…"_

His eyes flashed open, erasing the image of red clouds set into an ebony swath.

They narrowed.

"_Yes, I love him very much…"_

His chest tightened; his mind failed to really work around those words.

She wasn't in love with him, but, she loved him… Where did the lie begin and the truth end? Once again, he found himself aching for that which she wouldn't tell him; he couldn't bring himself to be jealous of his nephew, but, at the same time… lies… truths…

What was reality in Sakura's world?

And when did it stop bleeding into his?

…

**.**

…

"You're mom and uncle showing up today?"

"For graduation?"

"What else, idiot?"

Isao's emerald orbs narrowed in mock scrutiny as pale lips curled into a smirk. He gave the blonde next to him a dangerous look that could only be described as sinful. His open hand held up the right side of his head, elbow on the table as he locked on at her amber orbs rather lazily. "Jealous, Chou-chan?"

"What's there to be jealous of?" she deadpanned. "You and that ANBU captain's daughter; what was her name? Selene?" Chou rolled her eyes, smile tugging at her lips. "No, you're just an obnoxious, perverted _idiot_, who needs someone like me to remind him of that."

He smiled lopsidedly as he slid back up and pulled his hand out from under his cheek. He leaned forward on the long desk, forearms horizontal in front of him. "You still love me."

She snorted. "I'm probably the only one that does."

He chuckled at that and rubbed a hand down his face.

"So, are they coming?"

"Yeah, as far as I know."

Akimichi Chou, daughter of Akimichi Chouji and Akimichi Ino _and_ Isao's best friend. Blond, busty and silver-tongued just like her mom; she was also a bottomless pit when it came to eating. It pissed a lot of girls off around her that she never gained a pound, but, it just made her laugh. She'd formed some special jutsu that compressed the caloric fat in her body and made her appear much thinner the rest of her clan. He supposed with a mother like Ino it made sense. As a child she'd been chubby as hell, the oldest of three sisters all like her.

Now, she looked a little like Venus incarnate with long, soft blonde hair, beautiful cat eyes, endless legs and a mischievous smile that tended to tell him, more often than naught, that she was up to something. Although, that wasn't too much trouble most days, seeing as how he was just as easy to be sarcastic and in trouble.

She was also one of the only people who totally disregarded the black stain on his birth and had since he was barely old enough to walk. That wasn't too hard to believe considering she'd been the brunt of a lot of insults over her weight.

She was a girl and his friend, something that seemed to boggle most of his comrades' minds—the few he had. While he liked to call a lot of the girls he hit on friends, Chou actually was. He hadn't a single desire to ever really drag her into a darkened corner and make out, something his buddies were only just starting to learn was a fun thing to do. She was beyond gorgeous, in his book; thus he could only assume it had to do with the fact that they'd been friends for so long. Plus, it didn't exactly help to hit on the girl whose mother and father his mother was best friends with. If it didn't give them ideas it certainly gave reason for someone to kick his ass. In his experience, you didn't go pissing off an Akimichi. Isao could be coined a bit of a risk taker at times, but, he wasn't stupid.

"Oh, look," she murmured as her gaze lingered on the door, amber eyes following someone acutely, "Osamu-kun's here."

"You're surprised?" Sarcasm bit the edge of his tongue as he sat back, arms crossing over his chest; at the same time green hues followed the dark-haired Hyuuga prodigy until he found his seat.

She blushed prettily, looking a tad put off. "You needn't say it so… well, you don't need to be so rude."

He frowned. "Oh, and why not? He's got a stick up his ass. Just because you think he's Kami's gift doesn't mean everyone else does."

Her blush deepened and the look in her eyes told him if he didn't watch his mouth a little more she was likely to sock him in one of his. "You guys just rub the wrong way; Osamu-kun is actually a nice guy.

"It can't be helped that you're practically rivals either, both top in the class." She chuckled. "I don't think he likes your carefree attitude too much."

Isao snorted. "And I'm not very fond of his high and mighty disciplined one either. So, you tell him next time the feeling is mutual."

She did nothing but rolled her eyes as she idly smoothed down the wrinkles in her long sleeved, off-the-shoulders top.

As their conversation came to a stop he noted her hair was pulled back into two French braids that hung down to the middle of her back. Usually, she had it down. The clothing was a little different too. Had her mother bought her something new today in lieu of her possible graduation?

Her stomach showed, covered beneath the shirt in the mesh black and silver armor all shinobi wore under their clothing. The standard issue pants matched the top in color, but, along the sides there was a thick black strip of material stitched in. She'd gotten new sandals too; the boots came up to nearly her knee. You could just barely see the skin there because she was sitting.

"Are you checking me out, Haruno?"

He blinked at her, unfazed. "New clothes?"

She smiled, looking happy. "You noticed. And here I thought I was immune to _those_ eyes."

"If you keep flirting with me I'll tell Osamu_-kun ._"

She opened her mouth to respond to him, likely a rebuttal; however, that was when Iruka-sensei chose to enter the classroom and begin the process of telling them to line up and gather for the exam.

"Also," he started once they'd gathered, "you will be assigned your teams today, so, don't run out to greet your parents after graduation. Meet back here if you pass. Tomorrow you'll meet your senseis."

"Wonderful," Chou murmured behind him. "I hate waiting."

"I know."

"Shut up, _idiot_."

Time wedged on as the students who'd gathered in the hallway waited; each one took their turn in the room with Iruka-sensei and another Jounin sensei that was testing them. Most of the kids high-fived on the way out the door, indicating they'd passed. Very few left with a shake of their head, some disheartened and others trying to look hopeful for the next time.

"What'd you have to do?" he asked Chou as she left the room, grin on her face.

"You didn't have to wait on me."

He shrugged from where he leaned back into the wall, hands in his pockets. He pushed off with the foot that was flat against it. Both fell in step with the other on the way to the classroom.

"Water walking," she finally answered.

"Same."

"What did you do, by the way? They looked a little irritated when I went in. Well," she smirked, touching her lips, "Iruka-sensei looked amused."

"Eh… I walked on the wall too… and then the ceiling…"

"Show off," she muttered out, smile contradicting her. "Figures. I don't know why though; it's not there were any girls to impress."

"Why not?" he smiled back. "I dunno. I felt like it. It's not like it hurt anything."

"I'd call you an attention whore, _but_," she emphasized as they passed through the open door, "you're anything but."

"Or," he continued without missing a beat as they climbed the steps to the back row, "Maybe I just wanted to break the ice for when you went into test."

"Ha, yeah right."

He sat down. "You never know."

"Whatever…" she breezed out between her half shut lips. "Who do you think we'll get paired with?"

"One brunette and… a red head."

This time she really did hit him in the arm. "Quit thinking with your prick."

"Yeah, yeah…" he agreed, refusing to give into the desire to rub his bicep.

They were quiet as the class gathered into the room. Isao knew it was over once Iruka-sensei came back, clipboard in his hand. His eyes skimmed over it as he moved to the center of the class and announced he'd be revealing the team selections.

As he did so there were some groans of protest and some shouts of jubilation. Isao listening on with disinterest while Chou seemed keenly aware of each name called out. He continued on this way until his name was called.

"…and Haruno Isao."

"Oh no."

"Huh?"

Chou looked over at him, wide eyes blinking. "Weren't you listening?"

"…Sorta. I listened when my name was called."

She didn't frown at him. "Well, the good news is that you're on my team."

"There's bad news?"

"Osamu's our teammate."

"…Peachy."

"That's it," Iruka called out, "Meet back here tomorrow morning at ten. Your Jounin team leader will greet you." He smiled. "Congratulations and dismissed."

"Let's go," Chou urged, standing.

He followed with a sigh, ignoring the brief glare he received from the Hyuuga prodigy. If it weren't so childish he would have stuck his tongue out at him. _Bastard_.

"You know, I bet he likes you. Maybe that's why he hates me so much. I mean, that Nara kid is much more carefree than me and he doesn't give a damn about him."

"That's because Ren isn't in line for the position of number one rookie. You and Osamu are practically tied. It doesn't really help that he's a Hyuuga and you're… well…" she lowered her voice, "…technically an Uchiha. That alone doesn't make you mix well."

"Like I give a damn about old family feuds."

It was her turn to shrug as they exited the Academy. "Well, my mom's over there. I'll see you tonight to celebrate?" She paused, thinking. "Well, unless you've got another secret date planned with Selene."

"Nah…" He scratched the back of his head. "It's done with her. She's a little too girly for me."

"Tonight then?"

"Sure."

She gave him one more final bright smile before running over to her parents.

Isao dug his hands into his pockets as he lagged on behind her. It was obvious his mother had been chatting with hers. As his blonde friend ran up to her she pulled away from Sakura and knelt down to greet her, smiling brightly.

He pulled his gaze away from her as he came to stand in front of his. He noted, with some level of curiosity, that his uncle as a good two yards behind her. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. His jaw appeared tight and his whole body looked tense. His uncle always had… an air about him that Isao wholly respected, but, this was a little overkill even for him.

"How'd it go?" his mother asked him.

He pulled his emerald depths away from Sasuke and redirected them at his mother. "They tested us on water walking."

"Really?" she blinked, looking a little surprised.

"They expect more from them now than they did when we were kids," he heard his uncle say… almost snapping.

His lids narrowed in quiet scrutiny on the older Uchiha. Even so, he didn't miss the flicker of anger in his mother's eyes; it was the same whenever he'd done something… more to disappoint her than displease her.

"Naturally," she replied evenly and without apparent inflection in her tone. She smiled at him. "With each generation comes a better shinobi."

Isao nodded slowly, agreeing.

"Would you like to celebrate by going out somewhere? Maybe to eat?"

"Just us?"

"And Sasuke if he—."

"You two go; I'm good." He turned his dark orbs on his nephew. "Congratulations." He gave a small, almost sad smile, before turning on his heel and disappearing in a twister-like wind of leaves.

What in the hell was going on?

"Ready?" his mother asked him, catching his attention anew.

"…Yeah."

And so they walked, him with his hands in his pockets and hers swaying along beside her. He glanced over and up at his mother, observing her in more than just appearance.

She looked comfortable in her civilian clothes, but, he knew better than anyone else that buried beneath the exterior of a quiet, collected and calm woman was a battle fury waiting to go off. He'd been on the receiving end of her skill on more than one occasion. While he looked up to his uncle, he respected his mother for what she was capable of and how she chose to wield that power.

Still, she looked every bit the picture of young mother in her black short tights and red tank top. It was a rare occasion he saw her without her black knee high semi-standard issue boots.

She wasn't talking, but then his mother had always been quiet. It seemed like she never spoke two words, even to him, unless they were necessary. It always made him feel quiet around her, as if he shouldn't really say much unless she wanted to hear him. He knew, in reality, she wouldn't care if he talked about nothing in particular at all… it was just… there was so much to the woman that made up half of his genes he almost never knew where he stood with her. In retrospect, the same could be said of his uncle; however, Sasuke's quiet just made him want to mess with him. It's not that he wasn't afraid of either them, but, well, it was just easier to piss his uncle off than it was his mother. Maybe it's because his mother was a woman and his uncle a man. Women, he'd long ago concluded, were complicated—however wonderful—creatures to pick apart.

"No ramen, right?"

"No," he replied easily, without pause.

"Barbeque?"

He shook his head.

"Suggestions?" she queried as she glanced down at him, brows raised.

He offered a smile in return. "Burgers and fries?"

She gave a sigh, hands on her hips. "Well, who am I to argue? It's your graduation present."

He chose not to reply to her, thinking any sort of response aside from a change of subject could be considered cocky.

As he looked into her eyes, briefly before she turned her gaze away from his, he was reminded again that something was definitely up. Had something happened between her and his uncle? Granted, they'd always been at odds over one thing or another, generally concerning him, but, nothing so bad that it caused the feelings he saw and felt for himself today.

"Sit anywhere you like," a waitress called out as they entered the fast food joint. "I'll be with you in a minute!"

"Ok!" Sakura returned before they found a booth and sat across from each other.

Isao grabbed a menu from the metal contraption that held at least three others, ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper, as well as, two or three other sauces he didn't recognize; plus, what appeared to be a desert menu.

Time lagged in silence as they ordered, received their food and ate in the same unspoken comfortable manner.

"So, water walking, huh?" she asked, finally breaking the invisible law of soundlessness.

"It wasn't difficult." He placed the rest of his burger on the plate and nibbled on a fry.

"No, of course not. It was one of the first things I taught you after you'd learned to mold chakra. It took you a little time to master, but," she smiled, "nowhere near as long as Naruto and your uncle." She reached for her drink and took a sip. "How'd Chou-chan manage?"

"She was a little nervous, but, she passed just fine as well."

His mother nodded as she set her glass back down. He watched her as she dipped one of her fries into her palate of ketchup.

"Okasan?"

"Hm?"

"Are you ok?"

She blinked at him, looking a little owlish. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

She was also good at lying. He frowned and glanced down at his plate. "You just seem… preoccupied…"

"Well, I suppose I have a lot on my mind. It's been busier in the hospital lately and—."

"It just seems like more to me than that," he interrupted unusually. "Did something happen with you and uncle?"

She couldn't hide the look of surprise that flashed in her features; it was gone in an instant, but, not before he caught it. "You're asking an awful lot of questions today…"

Her way of avoiding the subject.

"Are _you_ alright?"

Redirect and avoid, he noted. "I'm fine… Just worried about you." He gave her a smile, tossing up the white flag. He wouldn't be getting any answers from her.

She reached over and gave his hand a soft pat; a wan smile pulled at the corners of her lips. Her eyes rippled with things he could never read, but, knew to be integral to the woman his mother became. "No need," she urged. "You just worry about passing the Genin test tomorrow." She released him and sat back, looking more her closed off self than ever. "If you fail, Sasuke would never forgive you."

"If not him, than that stuck up Hyuuga will likely rub it in my face."

"Who?"

"Hyuuga Osamu," he explained. "He'll be a part of my team from now on."

His mother blinked again, this time looking contemplative. "Neji and Tenten's son?"

"Yeah, that one," he mumbled out between bites.

"Who's your other teammate?"

"Chou-chan."

Sakura stopped and thought for a while as he watched her. "That's an odd combination, but, I guess your abilities and personalities complement each other nicely. Still, it's unusual that they would put two top rookies on the same team. Then again… there's usually only one top rookie… so…"

Isao shrugged and swallowed his last bite; his tongue ran over his lips, clearing away the residual salt. "I don't really care either way. I'm just not failing tomorrow."

She smirked. "A good plan. Well, home?"

He nodded as she pulled out money for the meal and tip for the server. Green hues locked on his mother's matching eyes while she was distracted. Well… if she wasn't willing to tell him what he wanted… maybe he'd pester his uncle.

After all, men were always easier to figure out.

…

**.**

…

The decisive click behind her was the only sound in the home. Her back pressed into the wood frame of the door as she released a sigh; green hues were shut to the world as she slowly pulled away from it and took the trek to her room in darkness. She walked silently past her kitchen entrance and through the living room before finally reaching the hallway; a few more steps before she reached for the knob to her sanctuary. It opened without a creek and she found herself gazing at the crumpled mess that was her bed.

She dropped her bag on the dresser as she shut the door.

Why she'd ever agreed to let Ino drag her out to that bar she had no idea; probably because she was her best friend. The blonde had done everything in her power to get her drunk, saying it was celebratory and a good enough excuse to get sloshed; after all, she'd told her, their kids were out having fun, and, why couldn't they? Sakura had gone without mentioning to her that their kids both had a good four more years before they reached legal drinking age. Still, she'd humored her and had gotten a few brewskies.

She found herself falling into her mattress, barefoot but still in her clothes. She was too tired to care and too lazy to strip down, or, put on something more comfortable.

Deeply, she inhaled, taking in the mixture of smells that were her and Sasuke's without shame. A swift reverie hit her, flashing images in her mind; none of which she'd ever be able to forget… to burn from her brain. She would admit to herself she didn't want to.

They'd overcome a lot in their twisted ideal of a family relationship… would this blow over? Her brain hurt trying to wrap around it, never mind Isao's prodding at dinner. The boy was never so direct and it worried her a little. Was it some indication of how bad their fight was this time? If he was commenting on it, surely…

She grumbled.

"Sleep," she mulled out loud, half muffled into her pillow in some half ass order to herself. Somehow, she made her mind let go and sleep took her in a way she hadn't had to force herself into since she'd last had a mission.

That was until something familiar pricked at her senses.

Her grip slid over the secure hilt of the unsheathed kodachi she buried under her pillow. She flipped it, sharp edge of the blade out, in her hand as she settled up quickly into a half sitting position. Green orbs grew dark with pensive suspicion as they landed on the ebony swathed shadow in her large and now open window. Faintly, she could make out the mask of a bird with red painted marks.

They sat there, securely crouched and watching her; the glow of the moon haloed their form, almost making them appear as a glowing entity.

ANBU…

No.

Her grip on the kodachi tightened.

"Who are you?" her voice was low and laced with warning. "Root has no business here."

"I could be ANBU."

"Don't insult my intelligence."

"Then again, I can't guarantee I'm either."

Her lips curled into an angry smile. "Frankly, I don't give a damn. You won't be much in a minute, given the chance."

"I'm here to give you a warning, and, some information, Haruno."

It was hard for her to tell if they were male or female; the voice was far too nondescript and it unnerved her a little.

"Digging into the past doesn't come without some consequences."

Her eyes narrowed.

"They're watching you, Haruno."

"Who?"

"Those who would have something to lose if you were to uncover the truth about Uchiha Itachi's final mission." There was a distinct pause as a brief wash of surprise came over Sakura's features. "I see I have your attention."

"I'm listening."

"Uchiha Itachi's mission order was a fake."

"What…?" More of the aggression left her; the reaction caused her grip on the kodachi lessen only slightly.

"You know that Uchiha Itachi was working as a double agent for the Third and the clan, do you not?"

"I do, yes," she murmured curiously.

"The order wasn't authorized... Itachi didn't know this. Why, I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is that night the false mission scroll disappeared. It wasn't long after then that Uchiha Shisui, whom was sent to watch Itachi, was found to have committed suicide."

Sakura finally lowered her kodachi, but, she did not release it. "Are you trying to tell me Shisui took the scroll?"

"I'm telling you he did, and, that he met his end for such actions."

"And the scroll?"

"Shisui had the scroll for a full day before his death. No one knows what he did with it… however… The scroll was written in code, to protect the contents." Sakura couldn't see their face, but, she was almost certain they were smirking. "His wife, as you well know—."

"Was a master coder," Sakura finished as the pieces fell together in her head.

"Does it all make sense now, Haruno?"

She nodded absently. "Decode the journal and find the scroll."

They nodded. "I'm glad to see you're not the idiot some would have me believe."

She ignored the backhanded compliment. "I understand why Shisui would steal the scroll, but, why not simply return it to the clan elders? Why take it to his wife… and…"

"Seek a meeting with Itachi?" There was a smile in that voice, she knew. "That's something you may have to uncover on your own. I don't have the answers."

With narrowed green pools she addressed them again, "Why are you telling me this? What do you have to gain?"

"Let's just say I represent someone who has something to lose by _not_ acting."

Sakura nodded slowly, not entirely sure what she was convinced of.

"One more thing," they continued, sounding sterner, "As I said, they're keeping an eye on you, Haruno. Watch for the mask of a bear, if nothing else. If you don't already, make sure you're always armed."

"…Alright."

"Watch your back." And then they were gone, cloud of twisting smoke the only evidence they had been there.

* * *

**AN :: **I'm iffy about this chapter, but, there you have it. Things are starting to brew. We'll see what happens next chapter? Reviews are not required, but, they make me smile.

_AN Question of The Chapter:_ What's your favorite quote?

—**Blade**


	8. Chapter 7

.

* * *

"_That's a stupid question."_

"_It was your idea to start this game, not mine."_

_Sakura huffed, sighing with some sense of exasperation. She sat with her legs crossed; the warming stones sat between her and Itachi. Once again, her mat was under her and his cloak was removed in some rumpled state beside him._

_The scenery was always the same; and yet, the location for the modest camp never was. Even to him, it felt as though they were going in circles through the cave system. Were it not for the marks they left behind to keep from doing so, he might very well think so._

_She looked up, lips pursing as she tapped her chin idly… thinking. "Well… I guess…" she trailed off briefly. "A kitchen table."_

_A single black brow rose._

_She shrugged, understanding the carefully expressed query. "A kitchen table is where the family gathers for dinner, where people talk and eat. Food makes people happy. I mean, being a couch is great and all… but, there's a lot more… I dunno." She shrugged again. "Good things happen at a kitchen table."_

_He nodded, amused. "You turn."_

"_What's your favorite food?"_

"_Dango," he answered automatically._

"_Figures," she replied, hint of a smile forming._

"_Oh?"_

_She nodded, choppy pink strands jostling around her soft features. "Sasuke doesn't hate sweets, but, he's not entirely fond of them either. I guess it's not surprising you're different." Before he could form a response for that, she said, "Your turn."_

"_Why did you become a shinobi?" He didn't think it was too deep a question to ask; however, by the shift across her features he could tell it was. She didn't frown, but, she didn't smile either._

_Sakura inhaled deeply, memories washing over her. "My grandfather was a shinobi," she said, voice quieter than before. "I mean… my father didn't have a talent for it, and, my mother was a civilian._

"_They were merchants; most of their money was made traveling. The roads weren't always safe, not enough for me to go with them. So, I was almost always staying with him when I was younger." This time she did smile, faintly. "He would tell me stories—war stories, as he liked to call them. When I was kid I thought it sounded amazing, fun, thrilling; I wanted to be like him._

"_He was the best part of my life. When my parents died shortly after I made Chuunin he didn't hesitate to give me a place to stay. And when he died…_

"_He told me he was proud of me. It hurt; probably more than when my parents went; and yet…" Her smile was brighter, but not overly so. "I was at peace over it._

"_I'm not sure if that really makes sense."_

_He couldn't say he'd expected all that information from such a simple question; still…_

_He closed his eyes briefly and nodded. "It does. He was the reason you became a shinobi; receiving his acknowledgement…" he trailed off, eyes scrutinizing and soft. He couldn't seem to finish his sentence; images, brief as they were—emotions—flinted in front of his mind's eye._

"_Yeah…" She smiled knowingly. "I suppose that's it._

"_My turn, right?" she asked_

"…_Yes."_

_At her charismatic, mischievous smile he wondered just what she was thinking. His previous thoughts, drudged in unanswered regrets, vanished at the glint hidden in her green hues._

"_Have you ever had sex before?"_

_If he were any other man, such a question would have—more than likely—had him blushing, spewing the contents of a drink (if he'd had one), or perhaps even some other embarrassing gesture. Instead, he stared her rather blankly; he blinked—once, twice._

_She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't give me _that_ look. I'm running out of good questions, and, these do eventually come up._

"_You can't tell me you thought they wouldn't?"_

"_This is my first time playing."_

_She chuckled. "Right. I know you're not a stick in the mud, Itachi. Surely you played embarrassing kid games growing up."_

_The corner of his mouth twitched in response, hinting at a barely visible smile._

"_Just answer the question."_

_He resisted the urge to sigh this time; even so, his fixed her with a narrowed stare, lips a flat line. "I have not."_

_It was amusing to watch her face contort into a mixture of shock and confusion. "Are you joking?" she said after the pass of a minute._

"_No."_

_She stared, face unchanging._

_A brow rose once more._

"_You do realize you're like… attractive, right?"_

"_Are you trying to soothe my ego, Sakura?" This time a smile formed._

"_Ok, ok," she replied, hands up and in some form of mock surrender. "I get the whole, my life is duty thing when you were growing up. I doubt between all the ANBU missions and whatever you had much time for romance._

"_But… you're like, what, nineteen now? Right?" She appeared to be analyzing him, peering across the way at him._

"_Considering the company I keep, do you think it would be wise for me to attach myself to someone in that manner?" he asked earnestly._

"_Well…" she allowed, slowly, her mind working around his words. Eventually, she sighed. "I guess not… but, I mean… you could _still_—."_

"_I would rather not."_

_Sakura let it go, and he, in turn, let her come to her own conclusions about why._

"_You turn…"_

"_And you?"_

_She surprised him by laughing softly. "Oh, most definitely. I'm sixteen. I should think my answer was an obvious one._

"_While I'm not one to judge anyone in our career choice for _their_ choices," she explained, "I'm not the type to really do it for the hell of it. I mean… I would like my first time be with someone I at least cared about… maybe loved."_

"_Understandable."_

_She nodded._

"_Your turn." He wasn't really sure why he reminded her, but, he did anyway. It seemed to be customary for even two players to do so._

"_Were you ever in love?"_

_He opened his mouth and stilled._

_She appeared to notice. "You don't have to answer if you'd rather not."_

"…_Twice," he said softly, but not _too_ softly._

_He was once again struck but her quiet, emerald eyes and the way in which they looked into his own abyssal depths made him want to explain. It had been… what? Four days. He recalled each one, each moment, with rapid succession._

_In his youth… he'd spoken a lot, been made to admit things to people he felt right doing so around. Laughing—then—had not been so uncommon; smiling, hadn't yet been a distant memory. It was almost uncomfortable to find himself falling back on behaviors he hadn't indulged in—his true self—for such a long time. And yet, it wasn't._

"_She wasn't an Uchiha," he started, eyes locked on the heating stones between them. "No one ever knew about her. And while it wouldn't have mattered too much that she wasn't, my family expected me to court—at the very least—a shinobi._

"_She was a civilian."_

_Sakura didn't say anything, but, he could feel her eyes watching him carefully._

_His lips curled only slightly at her memory. "We were together for a few months. Time was… simple; the time I spent with _her_ was simple," he felt the need to emphasize. "There were no talks of ANBU, of expectations, of missions…_

"_I was happy," he found himself admitting uncharacteristically._

"…_What happened?"_

_He shrugged the memory away as he turned his dark gaze to her brighter one. "I completed my duty and left the village."_

_Her lips turned down, expression sad._

"_The few times I returned to check in on my brother… I looked in on her as well," he continued, finishing his story. "She married a merchant, had children._

"…_She's happy."_

_Slowly… Sakura nodded._

_He remained quiet and the moment passed, as if the two were observing a request for silence._

"_And the other girl…?"_

"_She's in love with someone else, I'm afraid."_

_Sakura's brows rose. "Have you at least told her you loved her?"_

"_Aside from the obvious," he replied, reminding her of the present course of his life with a droll tone, "what possible good would that offer?_

"_She's meant for someone else. Why would I interfere with that happiness?"_

_Sakura sighed; the sound reminded him of a frustrated mother. "Well, at the very least, she deserves the right to know… The regret isn't worth leaving things unsaid."_

_He didn't reply._

"…_You know… as much as Sasuke means to me… if someone else… someone like you," she said quietly, keen depths intently locked on his, "loved me… I'd want to know."_

_His chest tightened, his eyes shut softly, and memories washed over him... distant and barely laden in regret… guilt. Faces… ones he held dear… echoed in his mind's eye. A girl's voice… laughter. It rang out._

"_Some secrets aren't best kept, Itachi."_

_He was looking at her then, lips barely parting… but not allowing words to pass. Finally though, he said, "Perhaps…"_

"_Then you'll tell her?"_

_His smile was soft. Abyssal hues were unhesitant as they remained locked on emerald green._

"_Someday."_

* * *

Chapter Seven

High above him white, obtuse, sometimes indistinguishable, shapes floated; they drifted, shielding the sun from his eyes. Beneath him the grass was cool and plush; it provided an adequate comfort as he lazed about.

Chou and Osamu had left about a half an hour ago; they'd passed the 'test' an hour ago in total. He wasn't sure that's what _he'd_ call it, but, Shikamaru-sensei had rattled off something or another about patience, quiet, and the benefit it was to any good shinobi. And thus, they'd laid there for four long hours watching clouds. At some point he'd told them to get lost. Chou and Osamu had lingered for a while as he'd feigned sleep. After they'd gone, time continued to pass on without consequence; Shikamaru-sensei didn't leave, nor did he repeat the 'get lost' either; so, without much else, Isao been content to remain there, silently observing the skies.

"I hear you get into trouble with girls a lot," his team leader suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Green hues turned; Isao looked over at Shikamaru on his left.

He appeared fairly comfortable with his arms locked behind his head acting as a pillow. He had a cigarette, unlit, dangling out of his mouth. His piercing black eyes were wholly directed upwards.

Isao looked away and sat up. He reached for his hair and pulled it out the tie; the length of it swept around him as he brushed grass out of it. "Not so much with them; it's their guy friends who don't like me."

Shikamaru gave him a long look, turning his head to do so; even that action was lazy. "Women are trouble in general."

Isao shrugged. "Sometimes the trouble is half the fun."

Shikamaru snorted and turned his head back to the clouds. "You sound like Kiba," he muttered lazily. "Although, you're the first Uchiha I've ever known who actually goes out of his way flirt.

"Then again, it's not like I've known a lot of them."

Isao wasn't sure what to say to that. He chose to change the subject. "So, was that test really a test? Or just a good excuse for you to lay about doing nothing for four hours?"

"What do you think?"

The younger male offered a cocky half grin as he tied his hair back. "A little of both."

Shikamaru chuckled.

Isao settled back on his hands; his palms were flat against the grass and he leaned back. His legs were crossed one over the other out in front of him. From this vantage, atop the Hokage mount, he could see the whole village.

"Why'd you stick around?" Shikamaru muttered aloud.

He wasn't surprised the man the village called the 'lazy genius' had figured out he wasn't lounging there for nothing. It was honestly the whole reason he'd stayed. He needed some answers before he approached Sasuke; if anyone could provide them for him with just a little information on the scenario—Shikamaru could.

He'd considered making up a something in his head and attaching fake names to his uncle and mother, but, in the long run… Shikamaru would—probably—figure it out anyway. His problem solving abilities appeared to know no limits; Chou commented on it regularly, and, while Isao didn't know him like his best friend and her family did—his original team—he knew him well enough from family gatherings to know it wasn't worth a try. Isao was smart, strategic—but not to level of his team leader.

He wasn't going to outwit him.

He was only hesitant because… well, he didn't want the what he had to say getting out. He didn't think Shikamaru would… but, caution was a key shinobi rule when it came to delicate information.

"It's safe to say… now that we're a team…" he began, considering his words carefully, "…if we tell each other something and want to keep it between us… we will, right?" He looked over at him.

Shikamaru angled a weird expression at him; his brow was raised, his lips twisted into something wholly not a frown or a smile, and his eyes appeared somewhere between narrowed and not. "What's this about?" He rolled the cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other; the unlit end faced Isao. "If this is for advice on women you—."

"No," Isao barked out, laughing. "If I needed help with women I'd just ask someone like Genma-san or Ayame-san." He looked over at him briefly. "No offense, sensei."

"None taken…" This time his eyes seemed more scrutinizing, waiting for Isao to say more.

The younger male leaned forward, pulled himself up and crossed his legs under him. His eyes lingered on the grass. He sighed his words out, "It's about my uncle and mother... I just don't want to say anything if I think it's going to get passed around and back to them…"

"Ah…" his sensei echoed, voice back to its lazy octave. "Well…" he muttered out in much the same way, "I don't know if you've noticed… but I'm not exactly the proactive type." He sat up finally, mirroring Isao's position as he pulled a silver zippo out of his flack vest. "I avoid drama and gossip. If I end up in the middle of it, usually it's because of my mother or Ino." The flint burst sparks as Isao watched him; he puffed a few times, lighting the cigarette.

"It's safe to say your information's not going anywhere. Personally, I'd rather not hear about it at all…" he muttered deeper this time, his voice laced with mock boredom, "but they tell me it's important to listen to you brats… so… _talk_."

A sense of relief washed over the younger shinobi. He offered his sensei a crooked smile through half hooded lashes and shook his head; green eyes turned back to the village. "I know you've known them a long time."

"Roughly sixteen years… off and on. I don't exactly spend a lot of time with them, though… Not recently."

Isao nodded. "You know them well enough to know they don't stay mad at each other a long time. I mean, they fight… mostly over me… but, nothing so bad it sticks for a few days."

"I'll agree with that."

"Right," he said, "Anyway… They've been acting like they kicked each other's puppy for the pass of almost two days. I didn't really notice it until yesterday."

"… And what exactly are you talking to me about this for? Moral support? Advice?"

"I want to find out what they're mad at each other for." He looked over at him. "I figured I'd run what I know by you, and if you can't come to some kind of feasible explanation… well, it's a bust." He shrugged.

Shikamaru sighed, took a hit of his cigarette and exhaled. "And what do you hope to accomplish with the information?"

"I'll know if and when you help me make something of it."

"That's a little vague."

"I'm a shinobi."

"Point taken…" he admitted with a droll tone. "Alright… shoot."

"I noticed it first the day before yesterday," he began. "I'd been talking to my mother about something…" He decided not to go into detail about _that_ conversation unless he had to. "When we were done I waited outside for her; we were supposed to practice chakra control for a few hours.

"I was outside for… maybe five minutes when I felt my uncle's chakra signature." He frowned. "It was odd… I didn't sense him approach the house. It just flared up and made itself known… and then so did my mother's. Then he left; his chakra dimmed out until I couldn't sense it anymore.

"When my mother came outside she looked fine… but, I thought something might be up. It wasn't until the next day, after the Academy graduation, that I noticed the animosity." He sighed. "My uncle snapped at my mother… and she just ignored him, smiling at me... She invited him out to eat with us and he declined; then he left again—quickly.

"And that's pretty much it."

Shikamaru didn't say anything for a pass of about five or ten minutes. He took a few more puffs off his smoke and Isao watched idly as the trail of wisps floated and faded, waiting. His bright green depths moved to his sensei; he wasn't looking back... more that he was looking out at the village—not really looking at it.

The older male scratched his chin and his eyes scrutinized nothing in particular. "What did you and Sakura talk about?"

Isao hesitated.

Shikamaru looked at him. "I can't piece it all together if you don't give me everything, kid. And if I'm right, what you and your mom talked about is a big factor in this."

He didn't really want to tell him… mostly because of what everyone thought of his father. While he wasn't really sure where he stood with the man everyone called a bloodthirsty traitor… his mother thought differently; her opinion was enough to placate him for now…

But, he got the distinct feeling Shikamaru wasn't out to judge him, or his mother; his demeanor appeared objective and helpful.

"We were talking about my father," he said finally, nearly blurting it. Almost immediately, he could feel his sensei's eyes on him, black and piercing with silenced inquiries… or maybe carefully guised sympathy of some sort; he wasn't sure what was worse—if at all…

He wasn't ashamed either way.

Shikamaru snubbed out his cigarette, exhaling smoke in a half sigh. "What exactly did the conversation entail?"

Isao frowned.

"Let me rephrase that," he started again, "What did _Sakura_ say about your father?"

By then Isao's gaze was back on the village. "Mostly that he was a good person… that she couldn't really explain his… crimes." He paused… shrugged half heartedly. "She told me that sometimes there are just some things that people can't know or understand—especially about shinobi."

"She's right."

Isao's eyes flashed to his sensei's; whom, for once, was actually looking right at him. "You think she's right about Itachi then?" He didn't rightly know why he asked, but, there you had it.

"It doesn't really matter what I think, kid," he replied. "Do you?"

His answer was immediate. "Yes."

"Well… there you go." He glanced up at the skies briefly. "On another note, I think I know why they're at odds."

Isao waited as he watched him.

"You do know Itachi is a sore subject for Sasuke, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know why?"

"Naruto explained it to me once..." His bright eyes narrowed a little—softened even. "Between him and the villagers… I've got a pretty good picture formed over the years."

Shikamaru nodded and pulled a pack of smokes out of his flack vest. "You said Sasuke's chakra signature just appeared, right?"

He nodded.

A cigarette was set betwixt his lips; the pack was put away. "You're still learning how to hide your chakra, so, it might not really occur to you… but," he explained, dragging the word out a little, "A shinobi like Sasuke can mask his perfectly; so can your mother." He left the cigarette unlit, once again rolling it about his mouth.

"My guess is he overheard your conversation with your mother. They probably got into a fight about it. I doubt very seriously your uncle would agree your father was a … _good_ person.

"In fact," he muttered, "I'd bet ryo on it that Sasuke eavesdropped—which is why you only suddenly sensed him out of the blue like that.

"Itachi's a touchy subject for him," he added almost off the cuff; whether he consciously repeated himself or not, Isao didn't know. Maybe he was reinforcing the idea.

Isao let the information settle over him, wondering why he never thought it a possibility that his uncle might have been eavesdropping; it all made sense now. Part of him wondered what his mother had said…

"I imagine Sakura defended Itachi," Shikamaru put in, as if reading his thoughts.

"Why?"

The lazy genius rolled the cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other. "You pick up things here and there over the years; I do anyway." The response was cryptic, not that it surprised Isao. "Like you pointed out—I've known your mom a long time. She's Ino's best friend. When a guy has a situation like that, it's kind of hard not to pick up on things when you're around a girl like your mom.

"I don't know why. No one knows the details of your mom's relationship with your father—other than they were stuck together for a week underground, chakra repressed. But," he murmured, finally lighting his smoke and exhaling it after his was done, "one thing's for sure…

"Your mom," he said slowly, once again piercing him with a heavy gaze, "She's always been a good judge of character."

…

.

…

Once again, the day was as long as it was hot as she stood before Kato Rukia's door. As she reached up to knock on the wooden barrier she said a secret prayer the woman was home again; otherwise, all of her hard work to finish early today would be for nothing.

Well… maybe not for _nothing_… She could go home and relax in her own tub.

The passing of a few moments had Sakura listening for footsteps. She pursed her lips and considered turning away…

"Yes? Oh," Rukia said with a smile. "Hello, Sakura."

The pinkette blinked; she was still registering the door having opened as the older woman greeted her. She smiled back warmly. "Hello again, Rukia-san. Are you busy today?"

She shook her head, smile softer now but still ever present. "Why, did you need to speak with me again?"

Sakura nodded. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all. You're just in time for lunch." She opened the door further and stepped aside for her. "I made extra. One of my sons was supposed to come home from his mission today, but, he was delayed."

Sakura stepped past the threshold and turned to face her, watching as she shut the door to the day's blinding light. Her brow rose. "I hope nothing happened."

Rukia shook her head as she stepped past and towards the open entryway to a room that house both her kitchen and dining room table. "No, nothing of real consequence. They sent word by carrier hawk that one of his teammates had sprained an ankle. The extra day's travel is because one of them has to carry him."

Sakura nodded and took a seat at the small table where Rukia indicated. She set her bag in an empty chair next to her just as the older woman set a plate with a sandwich in front of her.

"I'm not sure what you like on yours. I made it for my son right before the message was relayed to me. But, feel free to pick anything off… or I can make you something else?"

Sakura shook her head and glanced up at her. "No, thank you. I'm not very picky, nor am I allergic to anything. So, unless you're trying to poison me, I think we're safe." She smiled as Rukia laughed. Her green eyes followed her as she made her way to the other side of the table to where her own plate sat.

"No, no poison."

"Good." The pinkette's smile remained as she reached for her drink and took a sip, noting it was the same stuff she'd been served the last time she was here.

"So… what did you need to talk about?"

"You don't want to eat first?" She set the glass back down.

"I can do that while you talk." She reached for her sandwich and took a bite, eyeing it before glancing back at Sakura.

Sakura gave her a scrutinizing gaze, trying to think about what she should speak with her about first: the day Sasami last wrote in her journal… or the mysterious quote at the beginning of the book.

"You've read Sasami's journal, haven't you?"

"I have," she replied, brushing crumbs off her fingers over her plate after she'd set her sandwich down.

"Then you know she stopped writing in it the day of the evening of her husband's death…"

Rukia nodded and took a generous sip from her drink.

"She wrote that she was with you that day," Sakura explained. "That Shisui came to get her about something urgent… Do you remember anything?"

Rukia was staring at her glass, her left hand carelessly curled around it; a single digit tapped on it idly… as if she were thinking. "Actually… yes," she replied. Her gazed turned to Sakura. "Shisui appeared… shaken about something, but, at the same time… relieved.

"We were in the living room with the babies, talking about something… I dunno. And then he came in, telling my sister she needed to come with him right away…"

"Anything else?" Sakura asked, trying not to sound too desperate. _Please, something…_

Rukia sighed and set her elbow on the table; that hand rubbed her chin as she stared off to Sakura's right, once again thinking.

"I think…"

"Yes?"

Rukia once again caught Sakura's gaze; she wasn't sure… but she thought she saw a flash of… seriousness? Hope? …No.

"I don't really know how this will help you…"

"You never know," Sakura replied, once again hoping her voice sounded schooled and calm.

Rukia sighed and clasped her hands in front of her, food seemingly forgotten. "When Shisui came over I left them alone. I took the babies into the nursery… which was not far from the living room… I'm not really sure why they chose to talk about something that sounded so, well, confidential here." She shrugged. "Either way…"

"Maybe they felt safe here," Sakura offered quietly, focused on the woman across from her.

"Maybe," she agreed. "Anyway… Sasami asked him what was going on. I recall him saying to her something about a clan meeting going on that night. He told her he wasn't going. She sounded shocked about that and asked him why. He explained he had to meet with Itachi. He had something to show him and he wanted her help decoding… something…" Her eyes narrowed, thinking again. "…A scroll. Yes, that was it.

"He also said the 'King' and the 'Court' had been compromised. What he meant by that, I have no idea." Her eyes drifted from the table to Sakura. "…But, what does that have to do with what your working on?"

Sakura hesitated only a moment, allowing the information to wash over her. Quickly, she recovered and replied. "I have to be honest with you, Rukia-san…" her voice was soft as she spoke; careful. "I'm investigating the Uchiha clan—the massacre inadvertently… right now, your sister is my only clue; she's one of the few who kept records that might give me the leads I need.

"I believe she and your brother-in-law may have had crucial clan documents. However, I'm not so much concerned with that as I am their location. The Uchiha are known for storing… hiding… clan secrets; some of them in the same place. If I can find those I may find more _medical_ information about the Sharingan," she lied.

"And you think this scroll… whatever the king and court were… can help you?"

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe. I'm just following where the information leads me."

Rukia nodded.

"I do have another question."

"Of course. Ask."

Sakura picked up her glass, swirling it as she looked into it; she took a sip. The taste was sweet in her mouth; she licked her lips and held onto her drink between her hands; though, the action was lazy. "Your sister has this quote at the beginning of her journal… It reads: _In all things one must first look for love, hope and faith._ Do you know what that means, by any chance?"

Suddenly a look of peace and remembrance fell over Rukia's features; they softened, her eyes did. "It's what she said to me before she went on every mission… before she did any important thing in her life… before I had my babies… even when we did something as mundane as saying goodbye. She always said it… For her," she explained with quiet reverence and reverie, "it was like saying good luck. Everything always worked out when she said it—every time." She paused; Sakura watched as she visibly swallowed, as her eyes became glassy and drifted to the center of the table. "…She didn't the last time I saw her… The day the night of the massacre…" Her eyes shut.

Sakura was still; she too swallowed. Her eyes remained fixed on the woman before her.

"I'm sorry," Rukia whispered, smiling vainly as she wiped her eyes with a napkin.

"It's fine…" Sakura whispered empathetically.

Rukia took a deep inhale and regained herself. "I don't really know why she wrote it there, other than it was important to her."

Sakura nodded and glanced over at the wall clock, noting the time. "Thank you. I really didn't know you'd—."

Rukia shook her head, interrupting her. "No, it's fine. Talking keeps her alive. Here." She pressed a hand over her left breast. "That's the important part."

All she could do was nod again—mutely—as more questions plagued her than before. She wondered, as she nibbled on her lunch, when would she finally see the light at the end of the tunnel in all this?

_Carefully analyze the situation—then act accordingly_, Itachi's voice rang out in her mind.

She smiled, comforted by the fleeting thought.

_Easier said than done_, she replied to the ghost in her head, _Easier said…_

…

.

…

Bright emerald hues scanned the retreating sun; it was nearing dusk. In a few more hours the sun would recede completely and the ebony swath would cover the skies, blinking white lights and the moon the only brightness to remain. However, for now, the sun was still very visible and dinner was a good two or three hours away.

Isao fell to the grassy turf, exhaling and wiping a trail of sweat from his brow. To his left, a taller figure nearly mimicked his movements; though, not nearly quite as worn out.

"Here," his uncle muttered, offering him the water bottle he'd just taken a swig from.

"Thanks." He took it and drank from it generously.

"You're taijutsu has improved… a lot, genjutsu is strong, and you've mastered Katon," Sasuke explained. "I'll work with you on learning a few more element techniques between your missions and mine."

Isao nodded, satisfied. They were facts, but, he could tell Sasuke was complimenting him—praising him. Which, from what Naruto said, was a vast improvement over how he use to be. _He_ wasn't going to complain; certainly not when his uncle was telling him he was going to move up his training.

Briefly, he considered cracking a joke about how that would limit his time with girls… but thought better against it.

"Chidori?" he breathed the question with an exhale, still trying to catch his breath.

"Sharingan," Sasuke replied, not missing a beat.

Isao resisted the urge to flop down on his back in defeat, both physically and mentally. "You got it when you were twelve, didn't you?"

"You've asked me this before."

Isao took another swig from the plastic bottle.

"It's not a race," Sasuke explained, nearly muttering in what sounded like frustration to him. "You'll get it when the time is right; now, later, ten years from now… the timing doesn't mean you're a bad shinobi.

"Plenty of shinobi do well without one; remember that."

"Yeah," he agreed, sighing the word out while he handed back to the water bottle. The gentle scolding reminded him of what he intended to bring up before he and his uncle parted ways. But damnit… he'd never brought his father up to his uncle before… he didn't even know what kind of reaction he'd get. How would he start the conversation?

Humor? Sarcasm? Tactful seriousness?

He frowned.

Why did his parental figures have to be… there wasn't a _word_ for it.

Really though, he was smarter than this. He knew he was. Yet, while he could figure himself out of just about any tactical situation… this thing his uncle had… the feelings about his father… He didn't want to piss him off; more so, he really didn't want to do anything to damage their relationship.

He sighed.

"What?"

Isao blinked.

Sasuke raised a brow. "You're staring at me," he explained, voice lacking emotion. "What?"

Had he been? He resisted sighing again. Perhaps the slow approach was best in this situation. Assess and overcome, right? This wasn't something he could just jump right out and say. Yes, the slow approach was best—one in which he was fairly skilled at doing when he had to.

_Watch_,_ learn, formulate,_ he repeated to himself. _Then do._

"Mom and you are fighting…" he edged.

Sasuke frowned this time; he watched the younger male quietly. "…Don't worry about it."

The rebuttal, _Oh? And how do you expect I do _that_?_ was on the tip of his tongue; he swallowed the sarcastic remark, thinking better of it. He didn't want to fight with Sasuke.

"…I worry about both of you when you fight because of me," he chose to say instead, honestly.

Sasuke sighed, long, hard, the sound ragged with wear and frustration. "And what makes you think it's about you?"

Isao resisted the urge to smile. "It's always about me."

The older male wiped a hand down his face. He stared out at the partially mauled training ground—evidence of their exercise. He didn't want to have this conversation… Kid didn't have to be insightful to point out what he just had, but, he _was_ too insightful for his own good.

…_Like someone else…_

He shook it off, recoiling at the memories.

"We'll work it out. We always do."

His nephew was quiet for the pass of a moment or two. He was tempted to look over at him, to try and see what he was thinking by attempting to read his face—no easy feat.

"It's not that easy this time though… is it?"

He still didn't look at him.

Isao bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to yell at him—punch him even—anything to get some kind of indication that he was taking this in the right direction. But, his uncle was so… introverted—as much as he was when Isao had to be, or felt the need to be. And when it came to his deeper feelings, emotions, he was like a caged animal retreating into the darkness… snarling.

He closed his eyes and spoke again, tentatively, hoping he wasn't reading the aura of the situation wrong, or, his uncle's chakra. "…You love her, don't you?" There was no response, but, he felt him tense. "You're in love with my mother," he said, not really accusing him; however, his voice was stronger this time.

"Sasuke," he said, choosing to use his name instead of uncle; it made the words he wanted to say next _mean_ something.

He looked up at him, pushing out surprise as his uncle eyes gazed back at him. He forced strength, determination, and love into his green depths.

"I love her and it's enough for me—her word. I believe in my mother. If you love her, Sasuke…

"Why can't it be enough for _you_?"

* * *

**AN ::** I didn't think I'd be done with this today. I had a rough spot with both intimate conversations between Shika and Isao, and then Isao and Sasuke. I originally worried a lot about the end of the chapter—I felt at first it should have been longer. However, as I wrote it… I realized—considering the delicate nature of the subject manner between the two Uchiha (in blood)—it would have been out of place for Sasuke to talk deeply to his nephew about Itachi. He's not ready for it yet. **I also** **didn't have Itachi's name thrown in for two reasons**; one, again it's a delicate subject manner and Isao's too tactful for that—even if he doesn't wholly know how tactful he really is; two, it wasn't necessary: Sasuke's a smart cookie; he'd figure out Isao found out he'd eavesdropped and drawn his own conclusion. Of course, all of this will be covered in the next chapter and many others after that as I delve more deeply into Sasuke emotional psyche.

Thanks for reading.

—**Blade**


	9. Chapter 8

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* * *

"_We've been here before," she said, eyes narrowed on the scratch marks ticked into the wall. She sighed. Her hands rested on her hips; at the same time, a grim expression looking something like a grimace etched across her features._

_Behind her, and only slightly taller, Itachi's coal depths narrowed on the marks also. He'd been pulled to a stop rather suddenly when she'd stopped. He'd only turned when she'd remained glaring at the wall. When she'd spoken, he focused in on where she was looking._

"_How did this happen?" She was talking more to herself than to him; it was as if she was voicing her thoughts aloud. It had been four days now; four days of travel and careful marking and mapping as they went. Where had they run into a mistake?_

_Anxiety licked at the back of her mind; the ever present idea that this was some kind of sign signifying a real fear she'd had of permanent entrapment somehow bubbled to her current thoughts. She swallowed and pushed it back, listening as her 'partner' pulled out the makeshift map they'd been working on as they traveled._

"_We'll likely need to back track; it's not uncommon in a situation like this."_

_She didn't _want_ to say she was afraid, or, that she didn't really appreciate his own personal way of telling her not to be because it somehow made it worse; she managed to swallow it down; even stating such a thing would make it all worse. All she could do was stare at that damned mark; all she could think was that they weren't getting out. Her optimism was slowly waning with each second, and, she couldn't pull her eyes away no matter how hard she tried to will herself to do so._

_What if they didn't get out? What if she… died here? What if she never got to tell Sasuke everything she wanted to? What if Naruto never saw her again? She'd be marked a MIA and her name would be scribed into the monument. People would come to her funeral and cry for her, for their loss of her. Would Sasuke care?_

_She didn't even notice the way her heart began to hammer in her chest; she didn't register the acceleration of her pulse; she didn't really even feel the sweat that started to gather along her brow, or how her face became blank with fear; her skin paled but she couldn't see herself._

_Oh, Tsunade… Thoughts of her mentor losing someone else; thoughts of Kakashi losing someone else; her friends… Ino… All of it massed and coiled; it tightened in her gut and made her ill with something she'd never felt before._

"SAKURA!_"_

_Strong arms gripped her upper biceps; fingers half dug into her skin. For a moment, wide-eyed and stilled, all she could see was an abyss. Her mind backpedaled and her hyper focus dissipated. Itachi's impassive features came into view. His eyes, dark and intrusive, were filled with a worry she wasn't entirely accustomed to._

_She closed her eyes and exhaled; it was then she realized she hadn't been breathing—not really, and, that he'd been calling her name for a while…_

"_You won't die here."_

_Emerald hues flashed open when she felt his hands squeeze once, tightly._

"_This is but a simple error which can be rectified."_

_His urging voice made her nod once… twice…_

"_Alright…" she whispered._

_His word would have to be enough; it was._

* * *

Chapter Eight

"What's the situation?" Sakura's voice rang out, directed at the assisting doctor-in-training behind and partially next to her as she pulled on her lab coat. She checked for the pens clipped to her breast pocket and a few other items in more pockets still.

"The patient came in very fatigued from a mission with a pale complexion, light-headedness and a slight cough; he also had a bit of a fever. We ran a few tests; it appears his system's been affected by a bacteria."

"Blood work?"

"We've taken it, yes. The results should be in tomorrow."

"I want to see them first hand."

"Yes, Haruno-sama." She nodded.

"What's his name? Age?" she rattled off as she left her office and started down the hall towards the room holding the patient in question.

Quickly enough, the novice physician was trailing after her and keeping up fairly well. "Kato Hiro," she replied without looking down at the packet of papers in her hand. "Eighteen."

Sakura's features went blank for a mere moment; she schooled them. "His mother is Kato Rukia?"

The young physician looked up at her. "Do you know them, then?"

"Something like that," she responded vaguely. "Is there anything else you can tell me about his condition?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Sakura held out her hand and motioned with her fingers. "Let me look it over then so I can read the details." The packet wasn't heavy as she felt the weight of it in her grasp. As they walked down the long corridor, filled with busy occupants, she flipped through it. She didn't even look up as she wove through bodies.

Everything was accounted for, she noted as she skimmed the packet's contents. She was surprised to see that he'd not missed any of the required exam dates; most shinobi did at one point in their life—even by eighteen. Many were too stubborn to think they needed to go; however, most of these were from the older generation—like Kakashi.

She couldn't say why, but it felt… odd going to see Rukia's son; one of them, anyway. She mentally shrugged; it was probably because she was being—essentially—dishonest with her. Rukia appeared to be a good woman, and Sakura had never really liked lying to good people.

For duty... all for duty.

"Room G210, Haruno-sama."

"Thank you," Sakura replied as she reached for the knob and entered. She handed the packet back to the young physician and crossed the small room to her patient. He was lying back on a hospital bed. A girl about his age with darker hair than his sat to the right of his bed. At this distance she couldn't hear what they were saying, but the girl appeared worried and a little distressed.

He was tall; not too tall for eighteen, but all the same. She was sure he reached Naruto in inches, maybe a little less. She couldn't see his face just yet, as it was turned away from her. His hair was as much of a bed head mess as Naruto's, if not a little shaggier. The clothing he donned was standard issue for a Chuunin, as his paperwork stated he was.

As she came up his bedside the girl was the first to spot Sakura. She looked up at her, bright brown eyes curious. In turn, the boy Hiro followed her gaze.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she stated with the same direction she always used in the hospital; it was the same voice she'd used on the young physician behind her. "The doctor overseeing your condition."

Hiro reached out and offered his hand to her. She took it and shook.

"Kato Hiro, but I'm sure you already know that, doc." He smiled cheekily, easily reminding her of the blonde.

Sakura smiled lightly. "Of course." Her eyes touched on the young woman again. "Are you a teammate, friend, or, family member?"

"Teammate and friend," she replied with a small voice, "…Haruno-sama."

Sakura nodded and turned back to Hiro as she stepped closer to the bed. "I'm sure they've already prodded and probed you enough, but I'm going to do a little checking myself just to make sure. Alright?"

"Sure."

She would admit, as she moved her hands to rest over his chest, he did look a little pale. And despite his sunny disposition, there was a small trail of sweat gathering along his brow. As she extended her chakra outward and through his body, blue-green glow present, she could feel a distinct fever coming off his body.

"I'm sorry, Hiro," she heard the girl say.

"Don't be, Yue-chan," he replied. "I really don't think it's your fault."

Sakura listened until her work was done. Then her hands pulled away and her eyes opened. She looked over at Hiro. "There's some congestion and you do have a fever. I can detect a slight infection; however, until I get a look at your blood under a microscope I won't be able to tell you much.

"For now, I'm pulling you off duty and placing you on leave. I'm going to order that you do no strenuous work until I've cleared you otherwise.

"Understood?"

Hiro sighed long and hard. "…Yeah, I guess."

Sakura looked over at the girl called Yue. "Now, why is it you think this is your fault?"

She looked startled for a moment. Did she think Sakura hadn't been listening?

Hiro sighed. "I tripped when we were making our way back on this mission. My leg snagged along a branch and it cut into my calf. Yue-chan knows some medical ninjutsu and healed it for me. But, she thinks it might not have been done properly and that's why I have the infection.

"I think she's just being overly paranoid and blaming herself."

Sakura kept her gaze on Yue even as this explanation was given to her. "Well…" she began, "...it's entirely possible. But, I wouldn't worry about it too much. This sort of problem isn't entirely uncommon. The important thing is recognizing it and treating it before it gets out of hand."

Hiro's gazed snapped over to Yue's. "See? No big deal. I'll be good as new in no time."

"Until then," Sakura piped up. "Make sure you get rest and lots of liquids. Not junk stuff either."

Hiro nodded.

He wasn't happy about it, but Sakura was sure he'd do as she ordered. "I'll see you then." She turned to the physician. "I'll be in my office for another hour, maybe less, if you need me."

"Yes, Haruno-sama. Goodbye."

With nothing left to say, Sakura turned and left the room. The door clicked, shrouding the conversation behind her and allowing the chatter in the hallway to become that much louder. It was all white noise in the end; it became that way as she made the slow trek back to her office.

She wondered, briefly, if her mind had ever felt this weighed before. Names, dates, faces rolled around in her head; however, the most prominent of them all was one man who'd been the undoing of her life since twelve.

It was much easier to not think about it; there it was though.

_Sasuke_.

She shook her head and wiped a hand down her face; she pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled. There were other things to consider. For instance, everything she'd thus gleaned from Rukia. There was also the warning from the random midnight visitor…

Who were the King and Court? And how were they compromised? She finally had confirmation that Shisui had brought the scroll for Sasami to decode. But again, why not tell the elders? Why meet with Itachi over it?

Unless…

Sakura blinked suddenly; her face took this sort of frozen appearance and her pace slowed.

It made sense, in a way. But, what did they have to gain… Was it possible Shisui and Sasami were sympathetic to Konoha like Itachi was? Maybe it wasn't about what they had to gain, but about what they had to lose.

Rukia.

The boys.

Surely though, the clan would have been lenient towards them because they were family? Even if the clan intended to take over Konoha and annihilate anyone who disagreed with them… surely those were married to family would have been considered…

But what if they wouldn't have been?

Then… did Shisui intend for Sasami to decode the scroll and to tell Itachi what was going on so that he could help them do something about it? Was that it?

If that were true, what did Sasami do with the scroll? Did she decode it?

Still, this didn't tell her why the order was a fake to begin with. How could it have been? Was the Third in on it? The council? It didn't make sense.

She took a moment to consider this all theoretically. One hand came up and rubbed her chin while the other came over her midsection just under her chest.

The Uchiha clan was planning the coup for a while—a long while based on her memories from the connection she'd shared with Itachi; months even. Itachi wasn't ok with this, but he had been weighing his options. Ultimately, after he received the order, he'd chosen to side with Konoha. Shisui, who was spying on him, realized what he was doing; he and Sasami did. They were biding their time and also trying to figure out what to do. Once Itachi got the order, Shisui made his choice. He wanted to collaborate with Itachi and warn him. It was Sasami's job to decode the scroll to prove it to not only Itachi, but to perhaps the council and the Hokage as well—someone. Maybe he even wanted to ask Itachi for time to figure it out so he wouldn't have to off the clan. He'd tried to meet with him; however, something had happened to cause his death—based on her 'midnight visitor' he'd likely died _because_ of the scroll...

So then, what had happened to Sasami? Again, even speaking theoretically, she hadn't been able to really figure that out. Records told Sakura she'd died during the massacre. But what of the scroll then?

Sakura sighed as she flopped down into her chair and stared up at her office ceiling. Her arms hung at her sides.

It didn't matter how hard she thought about it, or how much information she came across… in the end it all came back to decoding that damn book. Hopefully, that would tell her the whole story; and not just bits and pieces to try and knit together.

Sakura reached up and pressed her fingers into her temples; she rubbed them into circles, trying to ease the stress that just seemed to gather and pound. She closed her eyes and sighed before finally giving up and pulling herself straight in her chair. The chair was scooted forward and towards the desk.

She supposed while she was here, on a Saturday of all things, she could at least go through her messages and mail… Not point in wasting a trip, even if she was going to be here tomorrow as well.

"Haruno-sama?"

Green hues looked up from her desk and to her left. "Himiko… what are you doing here? Isn't this your day off as well?"

Her assistant smiled. "I'm picking up a few extra hours."

"Ah… What is it?" Her brow was resting on the fingertips of her right hand; her elbow was on the desk as she kept her gaze on her.

"Someone is here to see you, if you have time."

"Very well… Let them know I'll only be here for another half hour though." She waved her hand. "Let them in and then go home and get yourself some rest, if you're done for the day. You work too much."

"No more than you do, Haruno-sama. Yes, Haruno-sama." Without waiting for a reply, or a rebuttal, she was gone.

Despite the fact that she was sure she'd done so way too much already, Sakura sighed again.

Where was a death-defying surgery when she needed one?

"For the record, I agree with her. You do work too much."

…

**.**

…

_"Sasuke… I love her and it's enough for me—her word. I believe in my mother. If you love her, Sasuke…_

_"Why can't it be enough for you?"_

Abyssal hues opened. They stared out at the street from where he leaned back into a wall, enshrouded in the shadows the shelter an overhang provided. His all seeing hues passed over each person, one after the next, watching as they went about their business, as a few here and there stepped beyond the doors of the white-walled building dedicated to healing.

He couldn't quite stop his nephew's voice as it rang out in his mind, louder than any of the other voices that came before. Even his own demons, the ones that reminded him of the child he'd once been, couldn't seem to overcome one lone boy's heartfelt feelings.

Long after he'd left yesterday, he'd asked himself, what did he know? It was childish, but he couldn't help it. For all Isao's inborn insight, for all the ability he had to see things even Sasuke couldn't in a way … in a way _Itachi_ had only been ever really able to do… he still didn't understand… did he?

But, did he have to?

Did he have to understand the loss, the pain, the confusion?

He wrestled with this for a while; for many hours last night, in fact. He recalled the last time he'd painfully assumed one person couldn't understand his pain based on a lack of experience; that person had been Naruto.

Like hell he could say that now. Not one understood him better—ever had next to Sakura—than the blonde.

That's what it all came down to though, didn't it? Loving Sakura?

Was loving her enough for him to trust whatever she felt, regardless of whether he agreed with her or not? Despite how… awful the whole thing was, knowing she had her reasons for feeling as she did about Itachi, would he be ok with that? Could he silently accept that and be happy with her?

Was that truly what unconditional love about? Could he go on with that, with her?

Sasuke sighed. His thoughts began to trail endlessly again, that was until he caught sight of a patch of pink in the crowd. Coal depths narrowed and softened all at once. His gazed locked on her back as she stepped past the doors and into the building.

Would it really be ok to talk to her about this before he even figured it out himself? He rubbed the back of his neck, frowning in a tightlipped manner.

No, he had to. There was really no sorting it out until he did; he'd just talk himself into circles. Avoiding her simply wasn't an option; maybe it had been before Isao… but not now. Sasuke, since cooling down, had realized this—even before his conversation with the younger Haruno…Uchiha…

His steps were slow as he crossed the distance to the hospital entrance. He wove through the thin crowd, hands dug into his navy colored pants. The heat beat along his back and shoulders; it was a stark difference to the coolness the shade had previously provided. Without really counting the moments he found himself passing through the entrance gate and then the doors. Ice cold air hit him and brushed away the slight perspiration without much effort.

He glanced towards the main desk; however, as he did so, he caught sight of her again. A brilliant flare of pink flashed through as she clicked booted feet down the hall, a young woman in scrubs trailing after her and talking quickly. Without really thinking about it, he was following them. He did so until she entered a room. It was there, some good distance away, that he waited for her until she left by herself. She didn't notice him; he could only assume this was because she preoccupied in her own thoughts. Part of him wondered, was this because of him? It was so easy for him to worry about Sakura when she so frequently—like him—worried so little about herself.

He trailed her until she returned down the hall she'd exited earlier with the girl, the one he now realized led to her office.

"Uchiha-sama?"

Sasuke turned his head so quickly his bangs jumped and fell to slap his face. Dark eyes found red-brown ones; they were bright and timid at the same time. The blonde hair that framed her face would have reminded him of Ino, but it was much too wavy for him to think on it for more than a moment.

"Yes?"

"Do you need something?" she asked quietly, politely.

He wasn't entirely sure how to respond for some reason and so she spoke again.

"Are you here to see Haruno-sama?"

"…Yeah."

She smiled. "I'll see if she's busy. Come on," she said as she motioned for him to do so with her hand; she moved towards the hall.

He followed after her mutely and then stood a few feet away from the door as she spoke with Sakura. He could hear the conversation well enough.

"Go on. She's not busy, but she did say she'd only be here for a half hour longer."

"Thank you."

She nodded and before he had time to really process it, she was gone.

When he made it to the open door and looked in she was staring down at paperwork on her desk. There was a nice little stack of it; some of it was letters, others folders, and some still just loose papers for her to deal with.

He found himself saying, without much thought, "For the record, I agree with her. You do work too much."

Green depths shot to his, seeming almost electric and somewhat startled. Was she surprised to see him?

She frowned and slowly sat up, leaning back in her chair. She was twisted slightly, facing him. "I suppose… in our own way, we all do; the good ones do."

He nodded once and stepped into the door. Slowly, he shut it behind him; it clicked. He held her gaze a while as she stared at him oddly. She looked as though she might want to ask him a question… but instead she just turned back to her paperwork, pen in hand. She jotted things down and signed forms.

"Is something the matter with Isao?"

"No, why?" he asked.

She flipped open a folder swiftly, eyes locked on it. "Considering our last conversation, I can't fathom any other reason you would be here, Uchiha." The sound of a pen scratching across paper felt as though it were the only sound in the room.

Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh; he chose not to frown. Instead, his lips remained as unexpressive as ever. He did, however, take a step forward; his hands dropped on the back of a chair close to her desk used—more than likely—for visitors. He leaned into it and looked down at her.

"It doesn't directly involve Isao… no…

"…I want to talk to you about our argument… Mostly… about Itachi."

The pause that happened after he came into the room was no real comparison for the one that came directly after his admission. Sakura visibly stilled her scrawling and did not start again. Her eyes remained locked on the page before her, but she wasn't looking at it. The silence echoed endlessly…

A pin drop would have been explosive.

"Well…" she started, her voice not quite breathless, but nearly laden with disbelief. "I think the last time we had a conversation about your brother and my own involvement we didn't speak to each other for six months…. That was what… five years ago?" She still didn't look up at him; however, her writing slowly resumed.

Kohl hues darted down to his hands; his thumbs pressed and then rubbed along the back of the chair. His eyes trailed along the curve of his fingers, one after another, poignantly following the lines and grooves.

"I need to know if what you said is what you believe to be true about my brother." His throat felt dry; the words which escaped became an effort to exist.

And yet, everything seemed so calm about her response. "I wouldn't lie to my son." The white noise of the pen scrawling across paper became like nails on a chalkboard.

His thumbs became white under the momentary pressure against the chair that he couldn't help but execute. "How…"

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Sasuke. The conversation that happened between Isao and myself was just that. Take of it what you want. If it stops you from being a part of my life and my son's, so be it." He hated the crisp calm, clipped as it was, tone in which that was expressed.

All he could do was stare at her. "Why can't you talk to me about this?" It was probably one of the most honest inquiries he'd ever made of her. "You've always denied that he raped you, you've never said anything bad about him, and, when people say things about my brother, you never speak up in either protest or agreement.

"What is it you can't say about it, Sakura? To me? To Naruto? Kakashi, even.

"How can you defend a man to my nephew who murdered my family in cold blood?" With each question his voice grew slightly louder, stronger, and with the final statement a little accusatory.

She stood quickly then; the folder slapped shut and the pen was left to roll to a stopping place on the desk. Her eyes turned to his, finally, as she pulled off her lab coat. "I don't have to explain myself to you, Sasuke. How can I make that clear?"

"He was my _brother_ and you—."

"I was _what_?" she interrupted, finally snapping and showing some emotion for once. "I was supposed to wait on you?

"You were my teammate." His voice was stern, stronger than before. He stood straighter, releasing the back of the chair. His remained locked on hers.

"I was anything but your teammate, Sasuke," she muttered almost bitterly. "If I was, I never got the memo." She turned and went about gathering her things into a bag.

He swallowed, but didn't look away from her as she worked. His eyes narrowed softly for the fraction of a moment, and, he almost lost his drive to argue with her at all… to try and make her make sense of this whole …_thing_. Even as this happened she was walking past him swiftly. "I need to lock up, I'm leaving." The door opened behind him even as he turned after her.

He watched her fiddle with keys as he stepped out and pulled the door shut with an easy click. His movements were slow, thought-driven as his depths focused on her angrily fiddling with finding the right key. It was then, the same question that always came to mind returned with Sakura and his brother.

What was she hiding?

Accept… this time the sound of it in his head was so much louder than it ever had been before.

The locked clicked shut and she pulled her keys out of the door knob. Without a word, she swept past him again and down the hall. He moved after her almost just as quickly. It became one of the rare moments in his life when Sasuke calculated anything beyond a battle strategy in direct combat, when he considered his words carefully before he spoke them; he watched her back, trailing behind her only slightly, and did not speak until they were far from earshot of nosey villagers.

He reached for her; his hand lightly grasped her upper bicep and he gently stopped her, turning her towards him. His eyes, as deep as the abyss, held hers immediately. He wasn't sure what she saw there… however, it was enough to stop her from speaking even as she opened her mouth to do so—stopping midway.

"I'm tired of stepping on eggshells about this and pretending as if it doesn't mean _anything_ to me. I'm not a boy anymore, Sakura—but, I haven't changed much either; at best, I've gotten a little smarter about letting my anger get the better of me.

"I was wrong for leaving you on that damned bench," he snapped, as if trying to get some point across while apologizing all at once. "But, whether you want to admit it or not, we _were_ teammates for a good year before I left town. Forgive me for not taking you with me, to a place where—in all likelihood—you wouldn't have last five minutes as you were then.

"I regret nothing. If I hate anything about that part of my life, it was leaving you and Naruto behind—the two people aside from Kakashi who were more a family to me after my own died than anyone has ever been or ever will be."

Even as he spoke her eyes remained transfixed on his. He hoped she was listening, absorbing words and understanding what he was finally trying to tell her. His eyes shut a moment; when the reopened they were softer, more serious. His voice reflected that turmoil and pain matched there by his next series of confessions.

"I didn't lie when I told you I wanted to love you, that I wanted to _want_ to spend the rest of my life with you and Isao as something beyond old teammates and an extended family. But, it's hard for me to do that when you won't open up to me, Sakura—when you won't tell me_ why_ you feel and believe the way you do about my brother. What is it you saw in him no one else did?

"What happened that week you were stuck alone with him?"

There was a long moment of quiet between them, of her just staring into his eyes in some locked reading and weighing of thoughts. Eventually, she exhaled, closed her eyes and whispered, "Some things are never as easy as you imagine them to be Sasuke."

His grip on her arm tightened at that statement almost instantly; however, it wasn't a biting painful one. "Talk to me, Sakura," he whispered back.

"I…" she stared, trailing off as she looked back at him.

"I'll find out."

"What?"

"I said," he repeated calmly, but decisively, "I'll figure it out on my own if you don't tell me. I don't give a damn if you've got the Hokage backing your secret or not, Sakura.

"This isn't just about you; it never was. He was my brother and I deserve an explanation—my nephew does.

"Most importantly—I won't let something like Itachi stop me from being happy anymore."

"Sasuke—!"

"You don't have to agree with me," he interrupted. "I don't expect—."

"No!" she snapped, her eyes locked on something beyond his shoulder as she shoved at him, pushing him to her right. "Move!" It was then he watched a she drew three kunai from her pouch and hurled them.

Distantly, he heard as metal clanged against metal. It was then he realized they were under attack.

* * *

**AN :: **I was tired when I finished this, but I ran through it as best I could; also I had a friend do so it well. I hope I didn't miss any errors, but feel free to let me know. I'll be going through my email and replying to reviews later today.

Sorry the update took a while, by the way. For those of you reading Nightingale, I haven't even started the next chapter; I will later today. If I work hard enough, hopefully I'll have it done by next weekend. This update took a bit because I had to write a paper for my ethics class. It took me almost two weeks and 20 pages. I really hate ethics class—just saying.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Also, I'm doing **original work now**; if you're interested, look me up on a site called wattpad[DOT]com under the author name BladeRedwind. Yes, it's all one word just like that. Anyway, the story is titled The Chronicles of Rose Red: Not Your Average Fairy Tale – The Heart of Undine. Give me shout out; I'll be adding chapter 2 in the next month. If you want, like the facebook page: facebook[DOT]com[FORWARD SLASH]RoseRedChronicles

_Thanks and much love!_

—**Blade**


	10. Chapter 9

.

* * *

_The gray, black, and mixture of blue-white vein-work glared back at her, beating into her a helpless promise of despair. She stared at it as she stepped forward. Her bare hand touched the cool rock slow… poignantly; the iciness of it trailed up her arm, along her chest and into her heart, suffocating her harder than the last time. She opened her mouth, half seeking air as her eyes slowly shut and her face shifted to clench._

"_Damnit!" she cried out, half screaming as she slammed her bare fist into it. Pain shot down her arm; her voice echoed in the silence, bouncing off walls and beating its way back into her body._

"_It's fine. We'll—."_

_Green hues flashed like a bright flame to abyssal orbs; at the same time, her body turned to face him as she interrupted. "We'll what, exactly? Just keep moving, just keep trying? Are you seriously gonna feed me that optimistic _bullshit_ again, Itachi?" Her words reverberated in the tunnel of glowing rock._

_He couldn't help the way his own eyes widened at her sudden assault; it was the first time she'd ever shouted at him. But then, they narrowed. He could understand, in a way. His patience was also wearing thin; he was just better at hiding it than her. Sakura was inherently emotional, he'd come to realize._

"_We'll just turn around and try again," he said calmly, getting ready to do just that._

"_And how many times do you expect we'll do this before we can't anymore? Before people just stop looking for us?" Her hands were fists as her sides; her body shook with anger and frustration. "We've been her nearly a week. A week!" she said louder, closing her eyes and bringing her hands up towards her head as her fists tightened harder; her face turned to the side._

_He took a hesitant step forward, hand outreached to her. "Sakura…"_

"_No!" Her eyes shot to his again. "Don't act like everything is ok! It's not!"_

_He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled, slowly counting back from ten. "You need to quit yelling."_

"_Why? It's not like anyone is here to care!"_

"I_ care." He couldn't help the glare he shot her, or the way his jaw tightened. "You are not the only one frustrated, or _angry_ everytime we reach a dead end."_

"_Really? Because you're not acting like it," she bit off, taking a step towards him and closing the distance._

"_Because one of us has to—."_

"_Keep our wits about us? Our sanity?"_

_He bit his cheek; his nails cut into his palms. "Stop interrupting me, Sakura."_

"_Or what? You'll make me?" She snorted. "Quit acting so high and mighty, Uchiha."_

_His jaw flexed again and he closed his eyes; he exhaled through his nose, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. When he opened his eyes he didn't look at her, but off to the side slightly; looking at her might make him do something stupid._

"_What? Can't say it?" she snapped, bright eyes still burning. "You know I'm right. We're—."_

"_We're _not_ stuck," he replied coolly, dark depths locking on hers. "We just have to keep going."_

_She laughed bitterly. "Because that's worked so well thus far. Brilliant plan. I thought Uchiha were supposed to be smart. I thought—."_

"_Shut up, Sakura," he said softly, unable to stop himself._

"_Or _what_?" she yelled, this time closing the distance so that she was right on top of him. Her voice echoed much louder off the cave walls. Her face, awash in aggression, was suddenly inches from his own. Air heaved out of her nose as she stared him down. In retrospect, his own features were tightly impassive; which, did nothing but irritate her further._

_Their breaths mingled and time passed, neither really budging until…_

_Sakura turned away. She could feel heat burning into her cheeks, her chest, and crawling up her neck until it ached. She refused to allow the sob break the cage of her throat, thick knot that it was._

_Her fists hit the wall again._

_And again._

_And again._

_And again…_

"_Sakura…"_

"_Fuck this." Again. "To hell with it." Again. "I just want…" her voice cracked. "…to go… home." Again. Something cracked._

_He grabbed her shoulders and tried to spin her around._

"_Stop!" she screamed, jerking against him. Her hands were a vice over his forearms, trying to push out of his hold. Her body became wild and her legs snapped, trying to run and get away._

"_Stop it, Sakura!" He maneuvered her around finally, pulling her into an embraced even as she beat her fists into him._

"_No!" she cried out, pinpricked tears breaking free from her eyes as she pushed harder—beat harder._

_He held true however; his arms wrapped about her to stop any arm movement. But she just kept fighting, yelling, trying to hold back tears even as she sobbed. Her body heaved against his, exasperated, frustrated, and wearing out._

_Finally however… she slowed and stopped._

_Emerald met coal._

_He swallowed; his eyes softened. That look… _Sasuke_._

"…_I'm sorry," she whispered softly. "I just…" Her hands tightened to fists on his shirt, shaking; whether it was with anger, sadness, or a little of both he couldn't be sure. Still, he couldn't look away from her._

"…_We'll get out."_

_Slowly, her eyes narrowed… softened. The tears had been gradually stopping, and now had entirely. He watched her swallow; her lips parted._

"_I…" she started, eyes hesitantly searching his. Noticeably, her hands unfurled on his chest… flattening carefully._

_It was then he became wholly aware of close Sakura actually was, of how she relaxed in his arms, of how she was pressed again him. It was then, with some jerked unexpressed realization that he slowly released her and took a step back. Her hands slid from his chest and fell to her sides._

_He looked away, composing himself quietly. "…Let's go."_

_After a moment… she nodded._

* * *

Chapter Nine

The clanging of metal rung in her ears the moment she released several kunai from her grip. She could hear the gravel grinding under Sasuke's sandaled feet as she shoved him aside. The motion was both simultaneous and smooth.

Her eyes narrowed as she readied another few to loop on her fingers; green depths darted towards the wood, searching hesitantly. Light bounced off the sharp edges of weapons littering the ground.

Behind her, Sasuke turned and straightened; narrowed, black and red eyes scanned in the same direction. Tomoe spun in a slow calculating manner. "Who would be stupid enough to attack us within the village walls…"

"No clue," Sakura muttered quietly.

There was a silent click as he pulled up on the hilt of Kusanagi; reflective silver gleamed by a fraction of an inch.

Nothing…

Green hues widened; booted feet shifted; gravel and dirt ground under rubber soles. Brownish-black oddly shaped blobs shot from the woods; they cut through the air. Kunai flew from Sakura's hands, lodging themselves; they kept coming.

She blinked.

Her jaw flexed; her eyes narrowed. "No point in wasting good weapons, I suppose." With a grunt she reached out, fist glowing and hit the first one to come within reaching distance of her.

Sasuke's blade cut several in half; the mess dropped the ground with a flopping thud.

"The _hell_?"

Fiery eyes jolted in Sakura's direction.

"It won't….come _off_." A growl escaped her tightened lips as she struck at her own arm. It was covered in the substance; slowly, it began to crawl towards her shoulder, covering her.

"Don't move. I'll—." As he took a step forward to help her, jerking. Something tugged at his leg, his foot; he was rooted. When he looked down he realized the fallen clumps had encased his left leg, stopping him. "Damnit." He wove a speechless, signless jutsu into his hand; lightening crackled there. It sparked erratically—glowed in blue-white. He drove his fist into his encased leg, smashing the rocky crust. He took no time in moving towards Sakura and doing the same thing once free.

"Thank you," she half breathed out genuinely while she brushed rock and dust free from her skin and clothes.

"Crap."

"What?" Her eyes shot to his face. She then followed his gaze downward. "Shit." The piles began to move towards one another; the dry broken pieces were overcome by the muddy ones. As she stepped back so did he. She watched as they gathered together, binding and shaping.

"Clones," they said in unison.

"We'll have to be careful not to touch them," she said as she prepared a jutsu while Sasuke dove forward and began to cut through them, sword swathed in white-blue sparks. But the more he cut through the more they joined, rejoined, parted and became several clones in the process of forming.

Her fist was cast in a bright green glow, brighter than normal. As she took a final step back she reached up, crying out at once and slammed it downward. The ground crumbled in a quaking, nearly straight line. It curved, breaking, opening and several clones fell through before they could take complete shape.

Her hands formed several signs and then clapped loudly—booming. In the same moment the earth pulled back together, enclosing the enemies.

She turned to look at Sasuke. Several clones had formed—finally. She jerked internally, trying not to do so visibly.

Bears masks, all of them. ANBU gear.

_Shit_.

Just as she took a step forward to act Sasuke was already working. Realizing what he was about to do, as she felt what he was weaving, watched the signs he made with his hands, she brought hers down; just in time, she called up an earth jutsu. The ground opened and flung upward to create and wall just tall and wide enough to cover her.

The burst came; it was loud, electric, and spanned twenty feet; the light dimmed and it slowed and dissipated. Like a bomb, it had gone off. All at once, her wall fell and the clones were gone, crumbling.

Still, even as she stood her jaw tightened. "Are you crazy! You could have killed me with that!" she cried out as he dusted himself off.

"I knew you would figure it out."

She decided against arguing with him when there was still and enemy out there; instead, she rolled her eyes. Her hands went to her hips as she pulled her gaze from his body and towards the woods.

But it was no time to relax, even only in pretense.

The clang and grind of metal echoed surreally; steel slid against steel; hot sparks flew. Her vision became blocked in the forest green of a Jounin vest and then satin black strands as she drew her eyes upward. In that brief second in time she exhaled, narrowed her eyes and tensed as the enemy bore down on Sasuke, who at the last moment came in and blocked for her.

She couldn't help but stand there, unexpressive, as she stared at his red, white, and black porcelain mask that left little opening for sight. An open mouth with small molded fangs growled at her, snapping almost in the form of a bear.

_"One more thing …As I said, they're keeping an eye on you, Haruno. Watch for the mask of a bear, if nothing else…"_

She blinked, snapping out of her momentary haze as Sasuke cried out and thrust the enemy backward with the force of his attack.

"To hell with this," she muttered as she reached into her hip pouch and pulled out her gloves finally. As she slid them on she watched Sasuke evade and beat back the agent's sword with his own.

They didn't have time for this. Either he was underestimating them both by attacking two—not to be egotistical or anything—elite shinobi within their own village walls, or just plain stupid. Neither was green, much less wet behind the ears anymore. Hell, if anything, both she and Sasuke were in their prime. ANBU or not, even if he was Root, this was ridiculous.

As the last leather hem snapped from between her fingers, leather snug around her digits, Sakura dove forward with her hands blinding in chakra glow. As Sasuke jumped back, one step ahead of her, she dove downward next to the agent's feet; the ground erupted and he barely had time to react, leaping and trying to find his footing. But, it was in that moment Sasuke went after him, jumping from one rocky slab flying to another. She watched as he swung at him, narrowly missing his abdomen.

Sakura's jaw flexed and she scowled as she reached into her pouch again. "Let's see you dodge this." Several senbon were drawn; chakra again infused her hand and she flung them at blinding speed towards him. As he dropped onto a falling platform of rock and earth while it fell he had just enough time to turn and look as she threw them. Timing it just right, he threw up the flat of his blade to deflect them.

At that moment Sakura would have loved to see the surprise on his face under the mask. All three senbon went right through the steel. Two flew past, but the third hit his shoulder.

Sometimes the simplest techniques really were the best.

Sasuke landed gently, sandals grinding as his foe did much the same a good thirty feet from him. Sakura met the dark-haired Uchiha there.

"He's either underestimating us, or this is what were working with."

Sakura exhaled a pant next to him, her eyes never leaving the perpetrator. "Probably the first. He's feeling us out."

"We don't have time for that."

"I agree. We need to take him out quickly, preferably alive so Tsunade can have him interrogated."

He grunted in response, mildly expressing his concurrence.

"He's an earth-type. Lightening is our best bet. You work on taking him out and I'll back you up. Sound good?"

He nodded once, wiping sweat off his brow.

As Sasuke tensed to move forward Sakura's hand snapped out and stopped him.

"What?" he asked.

"Look." Her eyes were still on the masked man.

He turned his eyes from her and back to the enemy. His narrowed slightly as he watched him fight falling to his knees. His body swayed just barely.

Sakura smiled. "Poison. It worked." She looked at Sasuke and released him. "Just keep your guard up; he might be bluffing."

Sasuke nodded once and then shot off towards him. Sakura paced herself five feet behind him.

"Fools!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she skidded to a halt just as Sasuke did. She fell, sliding, bringing one hand to her side to grab dirt and rocky earth as her hip ground into the half hard, half soft uneven turf. She cried out angrily as she ran into Sasuke, lacking any kind of grace at the suddenness of his action.

"What…" she whispered, looking up; dimly, she heard laughter from their opponent as her calculating green eyes traversed over the cutting prison wall of _wind_ that trapped her and Sasuke.

"Shit," she heard her partner curse, spitting the word like a bad taste in his mouth.

And Sakura knew why; she _knew why_. Sasuke was a fire and lightening type primarily. While fire was an excellent weapon against wind… in these close quarters it could go wildly out of control and kill them both, if not just her.

"When did he have time to weave those signs?" Sakura asked Sasuke as she all but glared at the enemy.

"I don't know…" he muttered as she stood up and dusted herself off. "…But I know how to get out…"

Sakura blinked, confused at the hesitance in his voice. As she stared him while he stared at their foe, watching as he wove more signs, she watched at his jaw flexed with the enemy's movement.

Then it hit her.

"No," she snapped, her hand clamping around his upper arm. Her eyes narrowed on his; anger flared anew. Fear cut through her, slicing unforgivably and unexpectedly. "As your primary physician I forbid—."

Red and black fiery hues shot to hers, silencing her with a look in such a way he hadn't affected her with since she was sixteen. The memory of that face… those eyes… that _night_ blazed like an inferno in front of her once more. She refrained from swallowing and held his gaze, drawing strength from her own growth.

A few moments passed; just when she thought he might say something the sound of chakra forming and something cutting broke their gaze. As Sakura looked at the prison she swallowed.

The walls were closing in.

Her gaze cut across the short distance to their opponent.

She wanted to ask why this was happening, what was he trying to accomplish. But, she knew why. This was her fault, in a way. She'd just never intended to drag Sasuke into it, not to this end. This was her battle, ultimately—regardless of how he'd been brought into it.

And as she looked over at him, catching his gaze again as they moved to the middle of the prison, she knew that was why she didn't want him to risk ruining his eyesight.

"Sakura—."

"No."

"You don't have a say in the matter."

She opened her mouth to speak.

"If we're dead it won't matter how well I see!"

She snapped her mouth shut and tightened her jaw; her eyes dove to the right, unable to look at him knowing this had been wrought by her own hand. Kami, why had he followed her today? But then…

She closed her eyes, pushing the thought that she might not be around had he not been there from her mind. She was a capable kunoichi; she could take care of herself… they'd just always been better as a team. And this was just one of those moments when his talents were better for the situation at hand than hers.

"Fine," she whispered, wondering why he was waiting for her consent at all. Maybe he thought she would try and stop him.

"Susanoo!"

In an instant, she was surrounded in a black-violet haze of flame and chakra glow. But her eyes were on Sasuke as his eyes shifted… and bled, as he carefully hid the strain for air on his lungs.

It took nothing for him to break the cage that bound them. The sound of chakra shattering and dying echoed around her like splintering glass.

She blinked as Susanoo's arm shot out, reaching for the bear-masked shinobi. Her eyes locked on Sasuke's just as the boney hand captured him. "Stop it. You don't need to keep using this." _You're hurting yourself._

Sasuke's flexed, flinching slightly. She could see he was pushing down the pain.

"Sasuke," she said again, more firmly—loudly, ignoring the cries for freedom not far from them both. "I can take it from here. Stop it!" Her hands gripped his arm, her hold vice-like; she could feel her own fingernails biting back into her skin where they grew.

"You don't have to protect me," she whispered harshly. "Damnit… let me protect you," she couldn't keep the pleading out of her voice, no matter the strength of it.

And then… he closed his eyes; the violet-black faded away and he slumped into her grip.

"Hurry," he breathed as trail of blood rolled anew, down his cheek and onto his knee as they both fell to kneel.

She wanted to check him over, but she didn't have time, not if she wanted to stop the monster who did this to them. She turned around just as the aghast ANBU member was pulling himself up and trying to make a break for it. His mask had crumbled away, revealing a war-torn and scared face filled with aggravation and malice.

"No you don't," she spat, slamming her foot down. The earth cracked, crumbled and sent a rolling wave to upset his footing. She heard something break and a cry as he fell. As she stepped towards he tried to stand and run, but to no avail.

His leg was broken, his shin; to be exact, the tibia.

He rolled over on his back as he tried to crawl away; he glared up at her.

"I hope you enjoy your stay with Ibiki."

"Like hell," he growled before he bit down on something and Sakura heard the sound of a crack.

"Shit!" she cried out, realizing what he done. She reached for him even as he batted her hands away and fought her. Even as she tried to stop him, to pull the liquid from his mouth, his body, she knew it was too late. His body convulsed for a few minutes and then…

…he was dead.

Pushing down her rage, she forced herself to stand and walk back to Sasuke. _So much for information._

"I'm alright," he whispered as she knelt down next to him and started to feel him out with chakra; his chest, his eyes…

"What happened here?" a new voice called out.

Sakura sighed as she looked up at an ANBU mask she recognized to be one of Tsunade's own. Several other were looking over the body she'd just left.

"Little late," she muttered, watching them. She looked back up at him.

"We just felt the spike in chakra and were dispatched," he explained. It was hard to tell through the mask, but she felt his confusion.

"We were attacked," she explained. "I'll see the Hokage about the rest."

"Understood. Do you need help with Uchiha-sama?"

She looked at Sasuke again, evaluating his closed orbs. "…No, I'll take him to the hospital. Thank you though."

The shinobi nodded and left her to it.

"Ready, Uchiha?" she asked him as she pulled his arm over her shoulders.

He nodded.

"Quite a day," she said more to herself than him as she watched ANBU put a cloth over the body and talk among themselves, radioing for more people.

"A understatement."

The world had to be ending, she decided, for Uchiha Sasuke to agree with her on so much today.

…

**.**

…

And hour had gone by as Sakura got the end of her newest update with Tsunade. The blonde stared at her across from the desk; manicured digits tapped her chin and caressed her cheek idly. She appeared sunk in deep contemplation, organizing everything that Sakura had just told her; from tracking down Rukia to her midnight visitor, all the way to today's events.

"So… you're getting somewhere."

Sakura hid her surprise. For so long, Tsunade had been telling her to give up on the trail. She didn't need to waste anymore of her life, her happiness on something with no real trail. "…Yes," she finally replied, clearing her throat idly.

Tsunade nodded and sat up; her forearms were placed on the desk and she leaned forward slightly, straightening her back. "It's probably good thing that agent committed suicide though."

Sakura blinked. "What… why?"

Tsunade sighed. "Can you imagine if Ibiki got the whole truth? It would—more than likely—have to become official even on some classified level. This is your case, Sakura. And right now, based on everything you've told me… I'm not entirely sure I can trust the elders, much less many of my top men. If certain channels of people were to find out this could go badly.

"No," she shook her head, "we can't let that happen until we have everything we need—especially that mission scroll."

Sakura nodded slowly.

"If you have a chance to get information, do so and dispose of the body. You know how."

"Understood, Shishou."

Tsunade sighed. "Good. And… be careful. Who knows what might have happened if Sasuke hadn't been there today with you."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, Shishou."

"Alright… well, get out of here." She waved her hand idly and began sifting through paperwork as Sakura got up and left. She contemplated walking home for a whole five seconds before she realized she had just enough energy to transport herself from outside the Hokage's door to the porch of her house.

She did so without thinking twice. A long sigh echoed past her lips as she opened the screen door and stepped inside. Idly, it thwacked against the frame, echoing once in the house.

"Sakura."

She was only slightly surprised to see Sasuke to the left of her in her kitchen, looking fairly ok considering the afternoon.

"Did they clear you?" she asked as she threw her work keys on the island.

"Yeah, There was some muscular lacerations because of the stress of the jutsu, but otherwise I'm fine."

"…Eyes?" she couldn't help by ask next.

"Some strain, but overall their as they usually are."

She slowly released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She licked her lips, finding it oddly comforting as an action and opened the fridge; the action placed her back to Sasuke.

"They sent word that Isao would be gone on a mission for a day or two."

"Nothing unusual about that," she replied. "Good to know."

"Sakura…"

She didn't reply, she just stared at the contents of her fridge. She knew that tone.

"I'm going to find out what's going on."

She couldn't help the brief smile that formed. "I know you're going to try." Arms gripped her suddenly, whirling her around. Her body jumped and her eyes widened briefly before narrowing as Sasuke held her in a tight embrace.

"I'm not going to let anyone else stop me—us—from being happy anymore. I won't yield, Sakura.

"Not when it comes your life. Not when I know whatever happened today wasn't just some rogue crazy shinobi… they were targeting you and I'm going to find out what and what it has to do with my brother."

And then he kissed her.

* * *

**AN ::** Hi, guys. This update took a while because of the holidays. Plus, I got The Old Republic for Christmas. It rocks hard core. If any of you play, give me a shout out.

Digression aside, this was a little hard to write. I'm super critical of fighting scenes and making them work just right. I always think I fall short in one way or another. I worry things don't move fast enough or perhaps too fast in some cases. If there are any errors, sorry. It IS fanfiction and while I do care about my work—I'm not going to spend at much time editing this over something original and worth more to me. That doesn't mean I don't edit xP

And for those of you who don't know, I've got an original work up for reading on wattpad[dot]com. Just look me up under the author name Blade Redwind. If you love watching stuff like Grimm or Once Apon A Time you'll love this original work. Give it a try at least.

Thanks, as always.

—**Blade**


	11. Chapter 10

.

* * *

_Trails of clear liquid rolled off her hair, sliding down to drip back into the cool water she submersed herself in. She exhaled, blowing air from between her lips; in the process she expelled more droplets. She wiped down her damp features and slicked her hair back further, ridding herself of the excess._

_Originally she'd just come to get some water to boil for more of whatever they could salvage for a meal; however, grime had gotten better of her and she'd decided to take a dip. She frowned at her pile of clothes on the chilled stone-like floor not far from the underground river._

_Perhaps she should have brought a towel… ah well._

_It was time to get out and go. If she stayed too much longer Itachi would start to worry._

_With a brief sigh she swam to rocky edge and placed both palms on it. With a grunt she was up and out and walking towards her clothes. She took hold of her shirt first; however, just as her fingers grazed the bottom hem of the garment something… slimy shifted in her footing. The gathering water off her body created a soapy element; before she could think much on it she felt herself falling backwards and crying out in surprise. She shut her eyes tightly and prepared herself for the impact._

…_Only it never came._

_She blinked slowly and a little curiously as she realized there was a pressure under her arms and slightly along her upper back. Instinctively, she looked up. Emerald green met with pitch and held for a few contemplative moments before recognition settled over her and heat came to her cheeks. She scrambled to stand and cover herself, barely catching the only slight tingeing of pink on his own._

_A warmth settled across her shoulders almost immediately and Sakura realized he'd covered her in his cloak. "I… ah… thank you," she managed quietly, not able to meet his eyes._

"…_You were taking a while," he explained, also not looking at her. "When I was on my way I heard you scream… so…"_

"_Sorry, I should have told you." Oh, god, what was proper protocol for this type of situation? "I… I didn't mean to worry you." It would have been hard imagining him worrying about her almost a week ago… now…_

_Sakura finally looked up at him, the way he wasn't meeting her eye and tenseness of his body. It was hard not to smile when she could see just how embarrassed he was. The Uchiha Itachi she'd grown to fear did not get embarrassed…_

…_but the boy in front of her… just barely verging on adulthood apparently did._

"_Seriously, thank you. I'm almost positive I could have broken my tail bone on this surface. I'm not sure you know how painful that is." The bare hint of a smile on his face unexpectedly made her smile as well, so she pushed further. "It's not a big deal, Uchiha. I doubt I'm the first naked girl you've seen either on purpose or accident." Without looking for his response, verbal or otherwise, she reached through the sleeves of the cloak, grabbed her clothes and then tried to grab the bucket she'd come to get water with._

"_I've got it," he told her, taking it before she did._

_Sakura shrugged. "Alright, if you say so." She hugged her bundle to her chest and started walking off towards their temporary camp for the night. Was it night?_

"_For the record, you're only the third so far."_

_She couldn't stop herself from asking now. "And the other two?"_

"_When I was young—very young—my mother forced me to bathe with some distant cousin of mine she was watching."_

_Sakura snorted. "That _so_ does not count."_

_He came up next to her and smiled. "She was a girl _and_ naked. I believe it does."_

_Sakura rolled her eyes. "And the other?"_

"_My team mate when I was in ANBU. It was quite similar to what happened just now. Only she thought I'd been spying on her and beat me within an inch of my life."_

_Sakura laughed; she couldn't stop herself. "And you just let her?"_

_He shrugged. "If I didn't let her do it then she would have found a more creative way to make my life hell, so yes, I let her."_

_She just kept laughing, thinking if she went back in time and told herself she'd be cutting up with an S-class criminal moments after he saw her in her birthday suit there was no way in hell she would believe herself._

_No way in hell._

* * *

Chapter Ten

"Haruno-sama?"

Sakura looked up from the stack of papers she'd been half falling asleep on laid out on her desk. Her assistant stood her in her doorway, looking amused. "Yes?"

"The blood department wanted me to tell you they've got your results ready to look over."

"Alright, thanks," Sakura whispered tiredly. "Tell them I'll be over in a minute." She waved her off.

Himiko didn't respond as the door clicked shut behind her. One she was gone Sakura shifted aside some of her work and stared down at the pages of a bound book. The longer she did the more her features waned from exhaustion to frustration and then back again. Idly, she clicked the pen in her right hand.

After Sasuke had left last Saturday night she'd went back to work on Sasami's journal. At first, she'd only planned to spent an hour or so on it, but then… all she could see was Sasuke, half kneeling on the ground from using Susanoo. Over and over her mind recreated the image red trailing down his face… and…

She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd been up for two nights working on it, barely managing sleep; now it was Monday.

His words rang out in her mind from that evening. He was bound and determined to get involved and she didn't know how much longer she could go on hiding this from him. _So_ much time had gone by, _so_ much growing up had been done; enough that she just assumed she was strong enough to keep him and how he affected her at bay; it was enough that she thought that nothing could really happen between then. But, one thing she couldn't do was risk him losing his sight, not because of her and this. It was her burden. For once it wasn't about Naruto or Sasuke keeping her safe; this was about her protecting her family… about saving Itachi.

Slowly, her eyes opened. She stared down at the words, jaw tight as she dragged her hands through her loosely braided strands.

_If only you could help out here, Itachi… But then, you probably wouldn't want me doing this. _She smiled. _No… you'd tell me to give it up and to find happiness with Sasuke like I'd always wanted. But you have to know, none of us can have peace until I solve this. You deserve that; your son does._

_Sasuke does._

Why wasn't any of it making sense though?

Maybe she was just being too hard on herself. After all, if Root—if it was Root—couldn't uncover it then how could she do the same so quickly? But if she didn't figure out a way to do it soon there was no telling what else might happen. She still had an unknown enemy lurking and there was also Sasuke to contend with. The one thing he and Naruto always had in common was their unwavering determination; once they got a scent for something and couldn't be pulled off the path there was no stopping them until they solved it.

She _had_ to solve it first.

But first she really needed to attend to that blood work sample. Otherwise Himiko would come bothering her again. With a sigh she reluctantly slid the journal into her desk drawer and used a seal to lock it.

She took her keys as she left, locked her office, and then proceed directly towards the blood department.

It wasn't a place she liked going to; because of its employees her son's true lineage had been leaked. In retrospect she supposed there wasn't much to be done about it. Eventually, he would likely gain the Sharingan and then people would have found out, rumor or not; and given who his father was she had little doubt, really, that he'd _never_ obtain it. Even if it wasn't confirmed to this day people pretty much assumed he was Itachi's for fact.

The only good part about the department was the woman in charge. She'd been at her post for well over thirty years and even after Sakura was promoted she still just called her Haruno; no sama, just Haruno.

"There you are, Haruno," she boomed out expectedly as Sakura came in through the wide open doors.

She was a stout woman defined by age and earned wrinkles. When Sakura was younger and just starting under Tsunade she'd considered her something of a bear and just a little scary. And she was when it got busy and stressful; however, she always meant well and cared about others. She was also one of the few to act like nothing was wrong when Sakura found out she was pregnant and the rumors started.

"Hello, Keiko-san." She smiled. "I hear you have some results for me."

She nodded. "I've got you set up in room three over there." She gestured. "I don't know if you'd call them results, seeing as how you wanted to do that yourself."

Sakura chuckled.

"You always were one to get your hands dirty, girl. You should let other people do the work for you; especially now that you're all lofty, important, and running the show."

"I do, sometimes," she agreed. "But I'm no more important than anyone else."

The older woman snorted.

"Thanks, Keiko." She gave her arm a pat and went off toward the room.

"Yeah yeah…" she replied behind her as Sakura shut the door, making her smile again.

It was dimly lit; the only bright light came from the microscope set up. Next to it on the elevated table were a folder and a small stack of glass tiles for her to inspect.

"Wake up, Sakura," she murmured to herself as she took a seat at the stool and began placing one sample after another under the eyepiece. She gave a yawn before taking a look. "Now… what do we have… here…?"

She blinked, pulled her head away, paused, and then looked again. A frown marred her lips and she looked down _again_, this time switching to another tile. She paused once more and slid yet another tile. This process repeated itself several times over until she'd gone through all of the tiles. Finally, she sat back in the stool. After another long moment she got up a little too fast and went to the door, opening it.

"Keiko."

Brown eyes blinked owlishly from the wide front desk to meet Sakura's. "Yes?"

Sakura smiled. "Hey, while I'm in here will you get me Sasuke's file? I think I'm going to go over his, you know… while I'm here anyway."

"Sure." She smiled back. "You worried there's been a change in his blood work since he was admitted yesterday?"

"Yeah, I am."

Keiko chuckled as she went to the refrigerated filing cabinet. "You're so paranoid, girl. But, that's a better attitude than most of these idiots running around here claiming to be nurses and doctors. Ah, here we are." She pulled a tan folder out and walked the short distance to Sakura. "There you go," she said as she handed it to her. "I doubt anything has changed though."

"Yeah, well, I'm a worry wart. Thanks, Keiko."

"No problem."

She shut the door as Keiko turned around to go back to whatever she was doing. Sakura was practically biting her lip as she pulled out Sasuke's latest blood sample, placed a few drops of it on a blank tile and slid it under the microscope and took a hesitant look.

Her heart dropped ten feet, but not out of fear—out of shock.

The cells that identified when one had a blood limit were _very_ specific to each kekkei genkai; sort of like a family fingerprint. Sakura was something of an expert when it came to Uchiha blood and the identification of said cells because of all her work on the Sharingan and stabilization of it. Still, fear of fatigue making her see things warranted this double check. But there was no mistaking the results right in front of her in a direct comparison.

Kato Hiro had cells that could manifest as a Sharingan.

He was an Uchiha.

Sakura stared at the mess of files before her; she settled back into her seat and wrapped one arm around her midsection. Her free hand took hold of her chin as she allowed this new and wholly unexpected piece of information settle over her. What did it mean? Just when she thought she had her case half figured out someone threw a cherry bomb right in the middle of her stacked castle of cards. And here she was, left trying to assemble this new tidbit into growing puzzle.

How could Rukia's son be Uchiha? What about the other boy? Was he the same? Assuming he was… Well, her late husband _wasn't_, that's for sure. Could Rukia have slept with someone during her marriage…?

Sakura sighed and rubbed her brow. No... it just didn't seem to fit… but then she didn't know Rukia _that_ well anyway.

She wondered—briefly—if Sasami's blood samples were still on file. If Itachi's were, hers might be. She had a _very_ small hunch… but there was no way to know for sure unless she looked into it herself. But asking for Sasuke's file was normal. If she asked for Sasami's… Well, no, Sasami was related to Hiro.

Sakura frowned.

She'd just have to go get it herself to save another chit chat about the whys.

She got up and slipped out, shutting the door and walked right past Keiko to the room marked _archives_.

"Need some help, Haruno?" she asked.

"Nope, I just need to look into something else. Thanks."

"Let me know if you need me."

"Will do!" Sakura replied before going in and right to where she needed to be. It took her less than five minutes to find Sasami's file in the cold room. She was back in her examining room with her blood sample on a tile in less than thirty seconds. She couldn't help licking her lips and she slid it under the viewer and took a peak. She held her breath, praying she was right up until she actually looked, single orb blinking as she twisted the dial into focus.

…And there was all the answer she needed.

Question was, did Rukia know that both she and her twin were Uchiha? And what did this new piece of information mean in her quest to prove Itachi's innocence?

As she cleaned up her mess and put everything to right she knew one thing; she had to see Rukia. She'd go under the pretense of delivering medicine to Hiro, because somehow in the midst of her discoveries she had pinpointed the bacteria affecting his body. So without much else, she took an early day and headed out to the Kato farm.

…

"Sorry, she's not here right now, Haruno-sama."

The pinkette resisted the urge to look disappointed as she faced Hiro at his doorway. Instead she put on a smile that would make Sai proud. "That's alright, I just came by to drop off your meds and run a final check on your vitals. I was just hoping to see her too and say hi."

The brunette smiled back and scratched his head, looking a little confused. "That's an awful lot of work for you, Haruno-sama. You could have just had someone let us know. We would have got the medication ourselves."

"It's no problem. I like talking to you mother and it just seemed like a way to kill two birds with one stone." The smile remained. "Can I come in?"

"Oh!" He looked surprised. "I'm sorry. I'm being rude, huh?" He grinned, reminding her of Naruto or even Kiba as he opened the door wider. "Sure! Do you need anything? A drink?"

Sakura shook her head she stepped in. "Nope, but if you just find a comfy place to sit I'll take a look at you and be on my way."

"No problem. Couch ok?"

"Fine by me."

He took a seat and Sakura placed a hand on top of his head. "This might feel a little invasive, but just relax."

He chuckled. "I have a medic on my team. Believe me, I'm use to it."

"That's right… forgot about her. What's your teammate's name again?" Slowly, she started to spread her chakra into his body, searching carefully.

"Yue."

"Sweet girl. She took care of that cut of yours pretty well."

"Her uncle's a medic nin, so he's been teaching her."

"Which family?" Everything seemed pretty normal… but she couldn't keep him like this for long; however, a more thorough look might take time… _C'mon, Sakura, find it_.

"Endo."

"Endo Kenta?" _Wait… right… Yes!_

"You know him?"

Sakura smiled as she retracted her chakra and removed her hand. She looked down at him. "All done; and yes. He's still working towards Jounin, but he's very good. Just a little too cautious. Still, I've recommended him to Tsunade for a couple missions. He's got a steady hand and a fairly decent resolve for that sort of thing."

He smiled again. "That's good." He blinked as she grabbed her bag and moved to the door. "You need anything else?"

"Nope."

"I'll let my mom know you came by, Haruno-sama." He jumped after her and opened it for her.

"I'd appreciate that. Here," she said as she handed him a small brown bag. "Those are your meds. Make sure you finish them. But, you should be able to go back on regular duty tomorrow. You seem a lot better. That stuff will just finish off what your body can't. Got it?"

"Yes, Haruno-sama. Thank you." He took the bag. "Bye."

"Have a good day, Hiro. Feel better." And then she was on the road, a hidden smile on her face.

Now she knew; either Rukia was hiding something or Sasami did something before her death. Considering Rukia wasn't a shinobi, Sakura was more inclined to believe this was all done by Sasami. That kind of seal on a bloodline technique couldn't have been done by just anyone.

Not unless you were teammates with Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui.

It was starting to get interesting.

She stopped and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds drift by as the sunshine warmed her face. Maybe, somehow, he'd heard her. "Thank you. I'm getting closer. Just give me a little more time, Itachi," she whispered before going back on her way.

…

"How can there be nothing?"

Twin gray pools blink up at him, squinting. The small, white cat—Nero—lifted a paw and licked at it a few times before setting it back down; his tail twitched. "We've kept an eye on her for a few days, just as you asked, Uchiha-sama. But, there's not much to go on."

Sasuke sighed and slumped down into the only chair in his living room. "Then tell me what you have seen."

"I don't really have anything," he replied. "I've been watching her at work and at home. Anytime she goes anywhere else Saiko watches her."

"Where is she?"

"Not sure. I told her you expected us." He didn't look happy. "But, you know my sister; she's not the most punctual."

Sasuke frowned, but let it go. He was right, but what Saiko lacked in punctuality she made up for thoroughness. He'd just wait; however long it took might be worth it. "Ah well. Are you hungry, Nero?"

The cat smiled. "Not really. Had a mouse on the way in. But some milk would be nice."

Sasuke nodded and stood up. As he stepped into the kitchen, Nero in tow, his thoughts traveled. It had been almost a week since he'd seen Sakura and told her of his intentions. That night he'd dispatched the cats to find out what she was up to. He didn't want them digging through her stuff, but spying wasn't within of his realm breaching privacy; not when most of it was done in public places. It was Wednesday now… so… he counted, pausing after he put the milk up. It had been about four and a half days, maybe five if Saturday night and today counted as half. It was around four or so in the afternoon… so maybe.

Still, he thought as he set the saucer down for Nero, there had to be something for him to go on to figure out what she was up to and why it had ninja after her; ones that were bold enough to attack her within the village.

A poof of smoke next to him jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Saiko, you're late," her brother accused expectedly.

"Sorry." She smiled. "Someone left out scraps in the entertainment district. Can't blame me; right, Sasuke-sama?"

He ignored her question. "What'd you find out?"

"Something curious, actually. She's been at the Kato house every morning since Monday. Well, Monday she went there in the afternoon. Since then it's been mornings." She stretched and her tail twitched as she settled into a sitting pose.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes on the female. "Kato…" Why did that name sound so familiar?

Nero lifted his head from his saucer and lapped milk off his face. "She's been at Rukia's house?"

Saiko nodded. "Yup. She didn't look too happy though."

"Kato?" he asked again, this time directing it at Saiko.

She blinked. "You don't know? Really?"

Nero looked a little bored. "He was young; he probably doesn't remember," he told her before looking over at Sasuke. "Kato Rukia and her sister were children refugees from the Third War. Their maiden name was Suzuki, if it matters. They were adopted by shinobi parents who held that name and gave it to them when they were taken in; mostly because they had no real ties to a last name before them. Both of their parents were unknowns.

"Rukia became a civilian and married a civilian man. Sasami on the other hand went onto ANBU as a code writer and breaker. She made up a three man team with your brother and Shisui. She eventually married Shisui."

"You don't remember her at all, Sasuke-sama?" Saiko asked softly.

Sasuke stilled as he allowed the information wash over him. Shisui was a house regular when he was growing up; mostly because he and Itachi were attached at the hip. They were best friends, practically brothers. So much so Sasuke found himself a little jealous of Shisui.

But the girl…

His eyes narrowed slightly as his thoughts grew deeper. "I think I do…" he murmured. Kami, it had been so long ago. And it just didn't seem to matter after everything that had happened. But she _had_ come by the house a lot with him and Shisui. He'd just put her from his mind like he had so many other things that hadn't been part of the goal he had in his youth.

Wait, why was Sakura going over there? He voiced this.

"Rukia's son, Hiro, was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. She was his doctor. At first I thought that's all it was, but every time she goes over there she asks for Rukia like she wants to talk to her."

"And she's not there?"

Saiko shook her head. "Nope. Her son told Sakura she's been a little secretive lately, but he also said that's nothing out of the norm for her.

"To be honest, I believe Sakura thinks Rukia is avoiding her. But that's just my opinion. Why she would care though…"

Sasuke nodded. Why was Sakura sniffing around one Itachi's old friend's sister's house? It was too coincidental. Whatever she was hunting down must have something to do with this Rukia woman.

"Did we help?" Nero asked, breaking his train of thoughts.

"Yes, thank you. You can go now if you like."

"Do you want me to still keep an eye on her?" Saiko asked.

He thought about it for a moment as he leaned back into the kitchen counter. "…No. I think that's enough."

"No problem, boss." Saiko said before poofing out of existence.

"Don't hesitate to use us, Uchiha-sama. A cat needs more to do than sleep and play with rodents, you know."

Sasuke smiled slightly. "Yes, Nero. I'll keep that in mind."

He bowed and poofed out much like his sister had.

Some part of him wanted to say it wasn't enough to have a definitive answer. But, given what had happened Saturday… Sakura was definitely sniffing around his brother's past, he knew that now… She _had_ to be.

And that…His jaw tightened and he imagined the repercussions of what she was digging into. It was no longer just a matter of his feelings, his repressed jealousy, or if she was really in love with Itachi… or had been; this was about something much bigger. Clearing his head had helped him see that. And the implications... Itachi had a lot of enemies; there was no telling what kind of stir she was causing with who over whatever she was trying to figure out.

_What are you doing, Sakura?_

…

Latex peeled from her hands, sticking because of the light sheen of sweat which had gathered. She glanced at the blood soaked scrubs in the bio-hazard trash bin as she dropped one matching glove after another onto the pile and released the peddle that held the lib open; it closed with a _chink_.

Four surgeries, nine hours on her feet, and not an ounce of coffee in sight. Kami, some days were worse than others; but… she hadn't lost anyone, and that was always a bonus. It made her job worthwhile, even if she went home feeling drained more than five days in a week. Things had been quiet though, so she was a little shocked when so many turned up in one day; she made a mental note to ask Tsunade what was heating up outside the village, especially if this started to become a habit.

One or two surgeries a week were common, usually from civilians. Ninja though? Four of them in one day _and_ death defying? Not since the Akatsuki had backed off and went into hiding, all but disappearing off the face of the earth. Then again… it could just be her imagination going into overdrive because of the journal.

Sleep was still hard; and with Rukia MIA it only made it worse.

There was so much on her mind now; it was both a good and bad thing. Her discovery in the lab weighed heavily. She still couldn't quite wrap her mind around it. Up until almost two days ago she'd assumed the last of the family clan lay with Sasuke and her son. And now…

She blew a raspberry, expressing both fatigue and slight exasperation as she dropped into her desk chair. It squeaked under the impact, but she didn't seem to notice as she allowed herself to sink into it; her posture slumped as she stared at her desk, eyes level with the top of it. The digital numbers on her clock glared at her.

Five o'clock…

She should go home.

She wanted to, but there were a few pieces of paperwork she needed to sign and send out; Tsunade would have her head if she didn't at least document the immediate results of the surgeries today.

With a grumble, Sakura sat up—groaning only slightly—and reached for the stack.

_Clatter!_

She blinked and looked down at what had fallen from between them. Her eyes narrowed slightly on the thin… scroll? Intrigued, she set the files back down and picked it up. She wasn't too surprised to see the lettering for her name on it, but it bothered her that it wasn't in a hand she recognized. Naruto's always tended to be a little sloppy; Isao's had long strokes; and Sasuke's were both clean and separated clearly.

This was tiny by comparison to all three, and a little blocky even for Sasuke.

With not much else to consider she popped the seal and opened it; the scroll rolled in her left hand as her right held onto the paper. Within it was more of the same hand writing in a note.

_I meant to speak to you in person, Haruno. However, my job has become a little harder as of late; I only barely managed to get this to your desk. There is much at risk, so I'll be as brief as possible._

_Since you've taken care of Bear things have gotten… heavier, to put it lightly. Security has tightened on my sources, limiting my information flow. Something is going to happen soon, something that has to do with so much more than just you or The Truth. Either way, I'm not sure how long they'll wait for you to unravel the puzzle. I'll do my best to get something to you in person ASAP. But…_

_You're running out of time._

—_Your Faithful Contact_

Sakura stilled at the information and allowed it to sink in fully. At first, she wasn't sure who the letter was from… but there was only one person other than herself who knew what she was up to besides Tsunade. She was just a little surprised to get more from them; she'd assumed that one night was her only reprieve, but apparently someone was on her side and trying to help her.

She wouldn't complain.

But it did unsettle her.

She executed a few hand signs and in one small blow the scroll went up in flame, all evidence erased from discovery.

If her midnight visitor was right then she needed to hurry; problem was, how much more could she push herself? She'd spent the better part of a week trying to figure the code out. It didn't help that there was nothing to go on. Not a clue as to what she could use to break it. If she didn't have a key, not even a hint of a key, there was nothing she could do about this.

Kami.

Four surgeries and now another sleepless night.

"You look like you need a break."

Sakura glanced over at her door just as Himiko opened it an addressed her. She smiled. "Yeah, probably. But I need to finish these surgery reports." She tapped the files.

Himiko shrugged. "Do them tomorrow."

Sakura snorted. "I'm not going to be in the mood to deal with Tsunade. I'm all out of her favorite sake," she admitted ruefully with a rub of her brow.

"Well, then you might like to know that she's out drinking tonight and probably won't be herself tomorrow."

Sakura frowned. "That won't make a diff—."

"She out with Jiraiya."

"Oh."

Himiko smiled, looking pleased with herself as he leaned into the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. "Besides, Tall, Dark, and Broody is waiting on you in the lobby."

Sakura frowned. "Sasuke?"

Himiko nodded. "So, go home, boss. Paperwork can wait until tomorrow. Take a page from your mentor's book for once."

With a long sigh Sakura grabbed the stack of files and shoved them into her To-Do drawer; it clicked as she slammed it shut. "Alright, fine. I'll get out of here. But, the shit will roll down hill if Tsunade burns my ears tomorrow."

"Somehow I doubt that'll be a problem tonight."

"True," Sakura agreed as she locked up and slid her keys into her go-home bag.

"Have a good night, Haruno-sama," her assistant said as Sakura stepped out into the lobby and towards said Uchiha.

A single pink brow rose as he stood up. Their last conversation had been a little intense; too much for Sakura's tastes. But she couldn't go on avoiding him forever; thus, she chose to simply act like everything was normal. When it came to Sasuke, pretending like nothing happened had a pretty good track record.

"Hey," she said. "Waiting for me?"

"I heard you had four surgeries."

She nodded. "Yeah, I did."

His eyes narrowed slightly, making him look both worried and inquisitive. "Have you eaten anything yet?"

She chuckled. "Not unless you count that breakfast bagel I managed to grab before they rolled in my first three hour fight with Death himself."

"How long have you been on your feet?"

Sakura shrugged and looked away. "About nine hours…. Give or take." When she looked back at him there was shock in his eyes. Enough to make her smile. "You know I'm all grown up now. I can handle it, Sasuke. That's kind of what I do these days—produce miracles."

"I wanted to take you to dinner."

She blinked.

It was his turn to smile, if only slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well?"

"Are you asking me to eat dinner with you?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "In a public place?"

"I would seem so."

She hesitated. Lunch was a friend thing, dinner at home was a family thing, food with Naruto and Sasuke was a team-family thing. Dinner _alone _with Sasuke—at night, she noted as she glanced at the glass doors going out—was a _date_ thing.

Her mouth opened once, hung, and then snapped shut.

"Is something wrong?"

Her face became complex mixture scrutiny and doubt. "You do realize what having dinner with me is going to look like, right?"

"And since when have I given a damn; I think I've made my intentions pretty clear with you, Sakura."

Point taken. But she wasn't sure how well she liked allowing the very thing she was trying to avoid.

She _was_ hungry though; tired too, but more hungry. There was also Isao to think of, but if he was home from his mission she could just bring him some food.

In the end hunger won out over pride and sleep. "Alright, let's go."

She really hadn't expected him this soon. In fact, she didn't expect to see Sasuke again until he had some sort of evidence about what she was up to, or at the very least what he _thought_ she was up to. If this were Kakashi she'd expect the ease-into-a-comfortable-place-and-jump-the-topic-on-them; but Sasuke was always direct. When he had something to say he just said it. She really didn't expect this to be any less. So what was up with the meal?

No, she was being paranoid. He was probably worried about her; and given that he had made his intentions towards her _very_ clear a dinner date invite shouldn't be all that surprising. So why was she encouraging it? Reasonably speaking, she could have just gone home and eaten. She could have said no and brushed him off. But she hadn't done any of that.

No, it was obvious why she'd said yes, she just didn't like the idea. She'd done a very good job of building up her armor, especially against him. Then again… he'd never been so…

She glanced over at him.

So… _earnest_.

The Sasuke she'd dealt with for years on end didn't invite her to dinner; he didn't smile at her all the time; he didn't tell her what he was thinking; he didn't do anything beyond be there for his nephew and make sure both she and Isao were taken care of. He was kind, civil, and at times they argued in the worst ways over her parenting choices; however, he never made a point to look at her like she mattered, nor did he do so with the intention of letting her see him look at her that way. Sure, he stole glances; a lot of them over the years. But, even when she did notice he'd always been careful to act as though he hadn't been looking at her at all.

How could she fight against this new Sasuke?

The one that told her he wanted to love her? Wanted a future with her?

She really had to stop thinking about this. It was just dinner. Then she'd go home, get a shower, and go back to working on that dreadful little book until her eyes wouldn't keep open. She didn't have time to think about this… not when it could mean breaking her resolve.

"What are you in the mood for?" she asked if for nothing else than to kill her train of thought.

He glanced over at her as he slid his hands into his Jounin issue pants. "Depends on how you're feeling. Relaxed or fancy?"

"Oh, definitely relaxed. I got my ass beat today. Sake is high up on my list of to-do's."

"Barbeque it is."

"Sounds good."

He pointed down the strip of road they'd turned onto. "A new one opened just down there. I've been told it's a quiet place."

"Odd for that sort of food." Barbeque joints were always loud, obnoxious, and rowdy places people gathered after work.

"Maybe, but I didn't think you want to run into anyone you know."

No, not really. And knowing how Ino's team lived at places like that had her thinking twice. She loved them but she wasn't in the mood. "Why wouldn't we? I'm sure Chouji knows about it by now."

"Probably; but, they have closed dining rooms. And it's a little pricier than most."

Sakura frowned, not liking the sound of that. "You really don't need to spend any—."

He rolled her eyes. "Sakura," he interrupted. "I am the only surviving Uchiha, at least in name," he amended. "What do you think one person can possibly spend that much money on? Let alone me?

"You're not going to hurt my bank account."

She resisted the urge to grumble like a child and let it go.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. We're here and I'm not in the mood to look for another place to sate your pride."

"Fine. Fine," she agreed as he held the door open for her and she stepped in.

A blast of cool air hit her almost immediately. Dim lighting, candles, soft pastels, and rich wood accents culminated to give the restaurant a comfortable feel. There was no noise, no bustling crowd waiting to be seated; the overall effect was both eerie and serene.

"Can I help you?"

"Two," Sasuke replied. "And we'd like a room."

The hostess nodded and gave a slight incline of her head for them to follow her, menus in hand. "This way please." Within moments Sakura found herself in another dimly lit room; privacy was ensured by a sliding door. Their table was traditional and low to the floor; cushions were their chairs.

"Do you know what you'd like to drink?" she asked as they sat.

Sakura hesitated as Sasuke sat next to her.

He glanced over at her. "Sake, right?"

"…Yeah," she agreed, deciding let it go before returning to her menu.

"One bottle," he ordered for her. "Two cups please."

She nodded. "I'll be back with that while you look your menu over. Your server should be with your shortly." She bowed out and slid the door shut.

"Isao should be back home tonight," Sakura started, wanting to break the oncoming silence before it started.

Sasuke flipped a paged and scanned the text with his eyes. "I heard Shikamaru was his team leader." Which, in his opinion was perfect. Isao had a head for strategy; Shikamaru was just the one to nurture that quality.

"It was a little unexpected the way they did the team though. A Hyuuga and an Uchiha." She smiled. "I'm sure that breaks a law somewhere."

Sasuke looked up from his menu to her. "Who's his third teammate?" This he hadn't asked about; the team selections.

"Ino's and Chouji's daughter. You've met her once or twice, I think."

"Is that one everyone was talking about because she managed to perfect a jutsu to avoid the Akimichi…" he trailed off, for once not really have a good word for… well, the physical state of the clan.

Sakura chuckled despite herself. It could be helped, but the look on his face. "Ah, yeah, that would be her. Ino was very proud of her, not that weight really matters much to her anymore. Hell, she married Chouji." A fact that had shocked Sakura so badly she'd nearly lost consciousness… ok, maybe not. But she had sprayed juice all over Ino when she'd been told of the impending date.

"I think I'm just going to get a little of everything," she said next. "Sound good?"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, placing down his menu on top of hers. It was then their waitress came in, bottle of sake in one hand and two cups in another.

"Decide yet?"

"A little of everything," Sakura ordered this time. "We'll take the mixed platter, rice, and vegetables."

"Alright." The tall brunette nodded, jotted it down on her pad, and looked back up. "Anything else?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Should be out in ten minutes or so." And then she was gone again.

And all was quiet as Sakura poured herself and Sasuke a cup a piece. She sipped from hers carefully and licked her lips. A sigh was seeking to escape, but she repressed it. She'd been so busy for the last few days it felt odd to have some down time. Even eating—especially without her son at home—had become something to do _while_ she was working in order to save time.

Part of her wanted to ask him why he'd invited her out; but she knew starting that conversation would open up a can of worms already bursting at the seam to be released from their prison. And yet, when there was no one else around it was so difficult to act like nothing was going on between them.

For example, it was hard to ignore the way his warmth radiated off him towards her, or the way his thigh barely brushed hers, or all the other things that reminded her why she'd fallen so helplessly for him as a girl.

"Sakura," he called her name again. She appeared lost in her own thoughts, so he called her name again. When she didn't respond he touched her wrist. She jumped slightly and turned to look at him almost immediately. "You weren't answering," he offered at her questionable look.

"Sorry…" She smiled ruefully. "It's been a long week."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

This time she smiled waned a little, looking almost reminiscent. "I don't understand how you can ask me that."

He raised a brow and glanced down at her sake cup. "Here." He reached for the bottle and placed his hand under hers to steady the cup as he poured. "How do you mean?"

"It wasn't very long ago you didn't give a damn about anything I had to say, not really."

He sighed and set the bottle down. "Sakura…"

"Are you denying it?" She gave him a serious blank stare.

This time his eyes locked with hers, wholly. "Are you blaming me for the way I acted at seventeen? Right after—."

"I'm not talking about then, Sasuke. I mean…" She looked down a moment, pausing, "I mean _all_ this time. All this time you've been distant but close. You've been there for me and Isao; you've made sure we were always taken care of, but now…" Her eyes met his again.

"I thought I made that clear to you when we ate lunch at training grounds." His narrowed. "I told you I wanted to pursue a relationship with you."

"What changed? Is it because we had sex?"

There were so many ways to answer that question wrong, and he knew it. "…Yes. But it wasn't about the sex, Sakura. It just helped me realize I didn't want anyone else taking what it meant to me away." When she didn't say anything he continued. "Are you trying to push me away?"

_Yes_… _no…_

Sakura shut her eyes again; her cup hit the table with a chink. Why had she started this conversation? Why did she open her big mouth?

"Food's here!" Their waitress chimed in just a she came into the room. Silence followed her while she set them up. "Enjoy. Ring for me if you need anything else." Her smile was too bright for Sakura's tastes, if she bothered to notice; which, she hadn't.

"Is this about Itachi?"

And just like that, her eyes were on his again. There couldn't be a bigger elephant in the room, not for them; not for anything but the mere mention of that name.

She couldn't do this; not tonight. She was tired, worn out, an odd mixture of hopeful and defeated. "Can we… can we just eat?" It wasn't like her to thrown down the white flag first, but she had to. She just wasn't strong enough right then to fight with him.

Sasuke regarded her for a moment before he began placing meat and vegetables on the hot plate in the center of the table. "You really haven't been sleeping much, have you?"

"Why?"

"You're a little grumpy. You tend to get that way when you haven't."

It should have unnerved her at he knew her habits so well, but it was pointless. And in a way, it was slightly endearing. "I haven't; you're right." Fatigue would explain her slip of tongue.

"Well, then we'll make this quick so you can get some sleep."

_I wish I could_, she almost blurted. Barely, she subdued it. He didn't need to know why she wouldn't be sleeping. And if she said as much he would ask.

The rest of dinner was somehow managed in comfortable small talk, however awkward that was for both of them. But, as an hour half a half began to wind down, Sasuke knew he couldn't go on avoiding what he intended. But, here wouldn't be the place.

"I'll ask them to pack us up and then I'll walk you home." Before she could tell him no he added, "I'd like to check in on Isao."

Ten minutes or so later had them on the road back to Sakura and Isao's house. This was met entirely without conversation; however, Sasuke attributed it to her need for rest. Whatever she was trying to find out had to be cause of it, which worried him further.

Once they were a few hundred yards from her gate he stopped her, touching her arm. Perhaps it would have been better to wait until tomorrow to talk to her about this. But, Sasuke was always one to follow his instincts; and his instincts told him he needed to at least broach the subject with her tonight.

She blinked curiously at him. "Something wrong?"

He didn't answer right away; instead he just stared at her for a long while before releasing a sigh. Finding the right words was never easy. It was something—quite fittingly for the moment to think of—that Itachi had always been very good at. It was a trait he'd passed onto Isao.

"I want you to know I know that whatever you're doing involves my brother. I know you've been to the Kato house, and that you've been speaking with Rukia."

Immediately, her eyes narrowed. Her guard was up, he could tell. But, he'd been expecting that.

He continued before she could speak. "I'm worried about you, Sakura. Whatever you're digging into has grabbed someone's attention, or you would not have been targeted Saturday. I'm not so stupid to think it was a rogue shinobi."

"You've been _spying_ on me?" She couldn't keep the bitterness from her tone.

"You're surprised?" he asked, looking unphased. "I told you I'd figure this out."

Fear sliced through her. What else had he found out? "Tell me you haven't been through my things," she asked through grinding teeth.

"I could have, but I haven't," he answered. "But I don't need to do that to know you're rummaging around Itachi's past. Learning about your visits to the Kato's combined with other elements I've noticed is more than enough.

"Why, Sakura?"

She frowned, tightlipped. "I'm going home." She turned on her heel and headed up the path to her gate. She wasn't too shocked to see him blocking her path once she got there. "Is that why you asked me out to dinner tonight? Because you thought I'd have a weak moment tell you some deep dark secret?

"I should have known better," she muttered. "My business is my own, Uchiha. I don't need to explain myself—anything. I've made that clear."

She stepped past him and continued to her door; but there he was again, hand on it to hold it closed. "I'm not in the mood to play this game with you tonight. _Move_, Uchiha; before I move you myself."

His eyes were soft on hers. "Aren't you worried about what your doing could do to your son? If they're ok attacking you in full daylight what makes you think they won't target Isao, Sakura?"

She stilled.

"Damnit, Haruno…! Let me in," he ordered and pleaded at once. "I want to help you, but I can't do that if you—."

"It's because of Isao that I have to do this, Sasuke," she whispered strongly, not looking at him. "Now… _move_."

"Sak—."

In one swift motion he was shoved aside, taken wholly off guard as she slipped into the house. He recovered quickly and went after her, somehow managing to avoid being pressed between the door and jam.

"Go home, Sasuke."

"Not until you talk to me."

She whirled on him, green eyes aflame. "I have nothing to say to you. Nothing. You've spied on me, tricked me, and numerous other offenses that have tallied up over the years, Uchiha. Now if you don't want to find yourself on an IV drip by tomorrow morning I suggest you leave."

"Could you guys keep it down? Or at least take it outside? I'm trying to read here."

For a brief moment the anger washed out of her as Sakura heard her son's voice and turned around. He was sitting on the couch, little book in hand with a curious brow raised. For a moment she felt awful; never had she or Sasuke _ever_ argued in front of him. It was one of the few things they always agreed on.

But then her eyes slid to the book in his hand and panic set in. "What are you doing with that?" she whispered harshly in disbelief as she crossed the room and snatched it up.

He looked even more confused. "What… that?" He gave a shrug. "I found it on the coffee table. I didn't get that far, but it's pretty boring. I skimmed a lot because it's like every three or four lines she mentions love, faith and hope. It's really distracting to a reader when that pops up a lot.

"Just saying."

Sakura went physically quiet as her son's words washed over her. He's literary analysis wasn't surprising; he just didn't use it very often. But she didn't even care about that; she didn't hear it at all. It was what he said about the _words_.

Fragments began to fall into place in her mind, sorting themselves out and making sense. She felt elation bubbling, crying to get out at her realization and her son's inadvertent revelation.

Suddenly, a smile broke across her features. She engulfed Isao in a sudden hug, pressing him so tightly to her she wasn't all that shocked by his complaints. "You're absolutely wonderful! Thank you, thank you..!"

"Well…. Duh. Wait… what did I do? Mom…?"

She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Thank you," she whispered once more in finality. She ran to her study, journal in tow and ready to go to work and accomplish something. She slammed the door behind her, pulled paper out of drawers and located something to write with; in her haste she knocked things over and didn't bother picking them up. She was so focused that when she pressed the tip of her pen to parchment and opened the book to begin she didn't even notice Sasuke's entrance.

"Sakura."

She didn't respond; he didn't hear him. Already she was scribbling letters down as one hand on the journal trailed a finger over words. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

_Finally._

_Finally._

She could cry; right there. But she wouldn't. All of her hard work… all of it was paying off. If this way the key, if she was right. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but, she didn't know if she could survive another dead end. Not when she felt so close.

"Sakura."

Was it the words or the letters? She couldn't decide and started making a row of both.

"Sakura!" …Nothing. She just kept scribbling and going back to the little book. He had a feeling he could scream at the top of his lungs and she wouldn't hear him. And he knew well enough the place she was at; it was the same place she got to when he was doing surgery, working a death defying heal in the field, or analyzing something that was essentially a life and death matter. Naruto liked to fondly refer to it as her Medic Mode. At the moment Sasuke found it a little frustrating.

There weren't many things that could bring her out of it, but not unless you wanted to risk losing a limb. And right now, Sasuke didn't need her in that mode. He needed her in a place where she would talk to him, listen.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking for a long while before finally coming to his only option.

It wasn't where or how he intended it to be… but, who was to say one way or the other.

He took a few steps towards her, placed a hand on her desk, and leaned over her; dark depths focused on the side of her head, the way her mess of hair fell just over her brow as her eyes shifted back and forth—calculating.

He had replayed this moment a million times in his head, even when he'd denied whole heartedly to himself he felt nothing for her. He wondered, had any of it been the same for her years ago when he left? Had she rolled in her sleep, aching and trying to fight off all the pain he caused her when she still held hope he'd come back to her… safe… seeing only her.

He could still see the stoicism she held tight to the night he confronted her, asking for the truth. He couldn't avoid the pain in her eyes even when he told himself she deserved it over and over again.

…And then Isao came into the world… and his changed drastically.

If he were to go back in time to himself and tell his twelve year old self that he might want to save some time and heartache, because that's all he would get by not giving in and just loving her, he was sure there was no way in hell he would believe him.

_No way in hell._

"Sakura… I love you."

At first a few moments passed; he thought she hadn't heard him. But then the clatter of a pen hitting the floor echoed as the only sound in the room. He watched her carefully as her whole body turned stiff, tense. If he looked anywhere by her eyes, which were now endlessly focused on his, he would see the slight shake in her hand as she whispered, "…_What?_"

He swallowed, trying to clear his throat and calm the rapid hammering of his heart; it came all at once, unexpectedly and quickly. "I said… I love you.

"Do I have you attention now?"

She just stared at him.

"Sakura?"

"H…How can you…" she started, trying to gather herself, her wits.

He took the opportunity to kneel between her legs. He placed his hands on her thighs and focused on her constrained gaze. "Sakura… talk to me. What are you trying to do? What does it have to do with my brother?" His voice was soft.

She frowned and he could see hesitance in her gaze; the shift was instant.

"Please, Sakura."

"…You won't believe me," she whispered finally.

"Why?"

She held his gaze, but didn't reply right away.

He waited.

"Sasuke… don't do this me."

"What are you afraid of?" His grip on her thighs tensed, thumbs rolling softly.

She glanced over at her desk, at the journal.

"Sakura, talk to me. I can't help you if you don't. What you dabbling in here… whatever it is, it's too much. You're going to end up killed doing it alone… Isao might. I just…" he paused, gathering himself.

"You'll hate me, Sasuke," she was still whispering. "Regardless of what you think of me, I don't want that."

His eyes narrowed as he listened to her, letting her words fall over him. He tried to piece together everything that had happened over the past few days… weeks. He tried to remember what she'd done, any details.

He thought _hard_.

"You've always been neutral when people speak against him, even me. You told Isao he was a good man. You said you weren't in love with him.

"Was that a lie, Sakura?" He couldn't help the burn in his chest over that possibility.

"What?" she blinked. "No—I—."

"You always seem to be in his corner. Be honest with me."

"That's not it!" she shouted, finally showing some anger again; at the same time she stood up and he had no choice but to do the same. "You just…! You don't know!"

White-hot aggression hit him at her accusation and what it could mean. "Then tell me why you insist on passively protecting the man who murdered my family!"

"Because he was innocent!"

Sakura's hand slapped over her mouth; the quiet that was once in the room returned like a plague. It stayed for a long while until Sakura fell back into her chair. "Kami…," she whispered to herself. She took a deep breath while he stood there, unwilling to make himself move as he focused on her and her admission.

Shock. He was in shock. He felt the waves of it rush over him, replacing anger, aggression, fear, and worry; it pricked at his every nerve. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears. Sakura's breathing, his own, blared as noise from a speaker. A bird chirped just outside an open window; Sakura's chair creaked as she moved slightly.

"I didn't want to tell you. Not until I had evidence. But you just…" She trailed off. "I'm not sure what to say now."

"The truth."

She looked up at him and held his gaze, locking.

"Tell me the truth, Sakura."

She licked her lips. "I don't know if you—."

"I'm tired of excuses, push offs, everything." He snapped, having finally reached his limit as much as she had. "Don't tell me on top of all that you think I can't handle it." He took hold of the extra chair in her room and slid it over across from her; he took a seat. "For once, Sakura—trust me."

She exhaled long and low. Her hands moved to clasp together in her lap. She stayed that way for a while and then leaned back in her chair. Her gaze leveled on his calmly, but at the same time a little shaken.

"Whatever I say to you, please don't interrupt me."

"Alright."

She nodded and took another breath. "Nearly thirteen years ago Naruto, Sai, Yamato, and myself were on a retrieval mission for you." Before he could say anything she added, "But you know that already." She turned and reached for the day old bottle of water on her desk and opened the cap to take a sip before she went on. "It was growing close to dusk so we stopped to eat and discuss how much more time it would take to get to our destination.

"But, Naruto had gotten hungry on the way and ate something he shouldn't have. It wasn't poisonous, but it was enough to give him a stomach ache. Because I was angry at him I went off alone to search for herbs to make a remedy." She frowned; idly, her thumbs rubbed the side of the bottle in her hands. "We'd already done a survey of the area, so Yamato didn't see any danger it and figured it would help me blow some steam off.

"If he only knew." She smiled. "I walked into a clearing, looking for a root that preferred to grow where the sun shone in the middle of the day. When I looked up to get a better grip of my surroundings after stepping out…" she trailed off a moment and looked at him, really _looked_ at him. "It was the first time in my life I had accepted death. I looked right into your brother's eyes, saw red and black, and knew I wasn't going home. I told myself he'd already caught me in his genjutsu.

"By myself? I didn't stand a chance." She shook her head. "Before we could say two words to each other the cave-in happened. The ground swallowed us up and knocked me unconscious. I'm not sure how much time passed before I woke up and realized where we were; it could have been hours. When I did I also realized I couldn't use much of my chakra."

"Because of the mineral rock," Sasuke added. "I read the report."

She nodded. "Itachi could use his Sharingan for no more than a minute at a time and couldn't for about ten minutes after each time he activated it. He was also badly injured in his left shoulder. Given all of that, he was essentially no threat to me at the time. We needed each other to survive… so…"

"You made the best of it."

"I did," she agreed. "We walked the cave system for six hours, trying to find a way out so we could go our separate ways." She rubbed a thumb along the cap of the bottle. "But I insisted on taking a break. We needed to eat and I had to take a better look at the damage to his left shoulder."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "But, you couldn't do anything because of the mineral rock…"

She nodded as she took another sip from her bottle. "You're right, I couldn't. Not by myself. I knew I could summon chakra to any place in my body at full force; however, once it started to break the surface of my skin? That's when it would weaken." She set her bottle down, finally tired of fiddling with it. "I theorized that if I had Itachi bring his chakra to the injured area of his body I could use what little chakra I had to manipulate his into fixing the damage."

"It worked I assumed," he said.

She smiled, but he could see bitterness in it. "It worked a little better than it should have. The combination of the miner rock and my chakra coming in contact with his in a complicated way made a bad mixture. As a result, we exchanged memories of our lives.

"…And that's when I first found out your brother was not the man he was painted to be." The smile waned a little; it softened. He could see she wasn't really looking at him. Eventually, her eyes turned to look somewhere else and her lids half shut. "What I saw was a complicated mess of images and voices that eventually came together and told a story," she admitted quietly, quieter than before. "What I tell you next, Sasuke… you must understand is from your brother's eyes. You may not agree with it, it may upset you—what I say next. But, no matter what you _feel_, remember this is how he saw it and I'm only the voice of those memories."

She didn't wait for him to respond or accent his agreement, reluctant or not. "Your brother was expected to be the very best from a very young age. Your father wanted nothing less; failure was not acceptable. He always felt the brunt of that and did his upmost to live up to it.

"ANBU was not his choice. He did it at the urgings of Fugaku, thinking this was just another way for his father to push him further. But then he was ordered to act as a spy to the Hokage, and it all became very clear. Even so, Itachi did what was asked of him by his clan without complaint." Sakura shut her eyes. "It wasn't long after that he found himself working for Hokage to be spy to the Uchiha.

"Itachi became a double agent, wholly unsure of where his loyalties lay. But he left concern out of it until he found out the Uchiha wanted to overthrow Konoha… and in the process… kill hundreds of innocent civilians and people he cared about who were _not_ clan members." She looked up at Sasuke, meeting his gaze once more. "He didn't want to do that.

"He chose Konoha.

"He told the Hokage everything he knew and waited for his decision. In the end…"

"…He was ordered to kill the Uchiha," Sasuke finished for her.

She nodded. "There's more to it than that, but yes." She waited to see what he would do, but when he kept sitting there—waiting—she went on. "He left you alive on the promise that if Konoha protected you he would keep the village's secrets. Then he went rogue, making you think he hated you. In truth… he held nothing but affection for you.

"When I saw this I couldn't help but understand him. In that moment I realized he and I had something common.

"We both loved you very much." She reached for the bottle and took another sip; it wasn't easy to keep herself composed, but she needed a moment to do that. "He was hesitant to trust me; he was worried if I examined him again we'd have another experience. I kept pushing, realizing he wasn't going to hurt me until he gave him. I finished repairing his shoulder and…

"…well, we just kept trying to stay alive." The cap clicked back into place as she closed it. "But, that's not all you want to know." She looked up at him again, green depths soft and understand; although, at the same time a little apprehensive. "You want to know why I slept with him."

Sasuke's lips parted slightly, but he didn't say anything.

When she spoke again her voice was more direct than ever. "I wasn't _in_ love with Itachi, Sasuke. We were stuck in underground for week. It was a stressful situation that scared the hell out me. I thought I was going to die somewhere near the end and all I wanted to do was go home.

"Most of all, I wanted to see you and say all the things I thought I never would again." She sighed.

"When we did do it I was the one to initiate. Because I needed him as much as he needed me; because I loved him—even if I wasn't _in love_—and wanted to give him some sense of happiness in this pitiful void of an existence he let himself lead out of a combination of sacrifice and for love of you.

"For a moment, we shared the same pain—you. It was that level of understanding that created your nephew, Sasuke."

It was an odd mixture of warmth, confusion, and pain that crept over him at her words. He wanted to ask her more about right then, but, he needed her to finish. "There's more still, isn't there?"

"Yeah…" she exhaled the word. "A lot more."

"I'm not going anywhere until were done, Sakura."

"I know." She twisted her chair around and grabbed the journal off the desk. When she moved it back around to face him again she was staring down at it. "We found a way out of the cavernous system of tunnels, and at the same time we felt your chakra pass by. I wanted to go to you, but Itachi immobilized me against my wishes. I didn't want to see either of you fight, and I knew he meant to lose." She bit her lower lip. "I woke up some time after the battle and found you; Itachi's body was gone and I could only assume his teammate Kisame retrieved it. You were unconscious, so I took you somewhere safe… and the rest you know…"

His eyes were narrowed and his chin rested on his knuckles; his other arm wrapped about his waist as he took on a scrutinizing air. "But what about now?"

"Before I found out I was pregnant I made a decision about my ordeal. I wanted to prove Itachi was innocent—somehow. But, I didn't know where to start, or how to do any of it without rifling through confidential files illegally. Still, there was this part of me that didn't want to believe the Third had actually ordered such a thing without trying for negotiations first. He wasn't like that.

"Getting pregnant made things both worse and better. It forced me to drive myself to find answers. It wasn't just about Itachi anymore, or proving anything to you because I still loved you; it also became about making a life for my son he could be proud of.

"I spent the better part of _his_ life trying to do that, always reaching a dead end, always stuck in miles of paperwork. So much so that Tsunade tried to beg me off the trail several times. But… I couldn't. I couldn't do that you… Itachi… Isao." The book was tightly gripped in her hand as her eyes became wild with the frustration of her memories… the years that felt wasted. She was so lost in her own wash of it she jumped when she felt a hand on her wrist, a thumb rubbing patterns into her skin.

She didn't need to look to know whose it was; and so her eyes closed briefly and opened before she continued. "And then I found a lead the day you came home with Isao to talk to me; a marriage certificate for one Uchiha Sasami. It didn't give her maiden name, but, it outlined that she hadn't been an Uchiha by birth.

"I was elated. This, I told myself, was the lead a needed. There was a chance, a very good one, that she still had a living family. So I went to the birth and death records department and had them look into it for. Only they couldn't find anything… and it wasn't like me to get my hopes up. In the end though, I was crushed…"

It suddenly made sense to Sasuke. That was the night they'd given into each other; when they'd both had a moment of weakness and she'd shred some of her armor. For a brief blip in time… Sakura had just been Sakura. "And then?"

"The next day someone from the department came to my office right before I went to eat lunch with you and gave me a name and address."

"Kato Rukia."

"Yes," she agreed. "And that's where I got this." She held up the book, looking at him seriously. "I've spent the rest of my time trying to figure out if this was in code after Rukia told me just who Uchiha Sasami was."

"Shishui's wife and Itachi's teammate."

"Yes, exactly." She set the book down on the desk. "And the more I read of the journal, the more I spoke to Rukia, the more I found out. For one, the day before the night of Uchiha clan meeting Itachi was absent from Shisui confided in Sasami about a scroll that needed to be decoded. He said the 'king' and the 'court' had been compromised and that he was going to miss the meeting that night to see Itachi about it.

"Then I got this midnight visitor. A contact who wouldn't reveal themselves telling me the mission—Itachi's—had been a fake. The clue was in the journal and all I had to do was figure it out. But, I had be careful because whoever Shisui had stolen the fake mission scroll from was keeping an eye out for me.

"They knew I had Sasami's book. But," she went on, "there's more still. After Shishui's death Sasami went missing for a week. They didn't find her again until they found her body amongst those the morning after the massacre." After that Sakura couldn't stop talking; because now he knew everything and she wanted to tell him what she'd concluded.

"Up until today I only theorized that Shisui and Samsami were sympathetic to Konoha and secretly on Itachi's side. Only, I don't think either of them talked to Itachi about it, or else I'd know about from the connection I shared with him in the caves. I think Shisui planned on telling him the night he was murdered.

"He was spying on Itachi with orders from the clan, so Itachi might not have thought to confide in him—or maybe he didn't think he could trust him. I'm not sure. Either way, Shisui, I believe, followed Itachi when he received his covert mission to annihilate the Uchiha. He only got so far, so he didn't know what was going on exactly. But he knew enough to take the scroll.

"Customarily, confidential mission documents are sealed written in code; he took it to Sasami to _decode_ and went to meet with Itachi and tell him what was going on in secret. But, when he got there, someone was waiting on him and made it look like a suicide. By the time Itachi showed up it was too late. There was nothing he could do. Not wanting the clan to think it'd been his doing with such sensitive orders on the line, he left all as it was." She took a breath, a drink from her bottle, and went on.

"Sasami, not knowing what to think and with Itachi in the dark about all of it, took the scroll and went into hiding. I believe she decoded it and hid it somewhere. For whatever reason… she returned to the compound the night of the massacre and met her end…" Sakura picked up the journal again, tapping it as she spoke, "I think the key to finding the scroll is in here. It wasn't until tonight that I had anything to go on to decode it. But then Isao mentioned something." She opened it and flipped to the part where Sasami's quote was written. "_In all things one must first look for love, hope and faith_," she read out loud.

Sasuke looked at where she pointed with scrutinizing eyes. "Alright…"

"_It's the key!_" she said a little too loudly. "I didn't notice it before, but, every two or three sentences she mentions one of those words. This whole time I was looking for something complicated and difficult; but she made it easy because no one would expect that.

"She says _first_ in the quote, indicating the first word, or letter of every sentence. So, for every sentence that contains one of those words you have to take the first word or letter—I'm not sure which yet. If I can do that and write it all down, then I can locate the scroll, and find out who did this.

"Don't you see, Sasuke," she breathed with half contained excitement, "It wasn't his fault, none of it. Someone used him and ruined his life—your life."

"…If you're right."

"I know I am." She smiled confidently now. "And I had one more surprise today that I believe confirms it; for me it does."

His mind was a whirlwind of information he was still trying to process; he wasn't sure he could take more. Hell, the shock still hadn't worn off. But… if she was right…

"I'm listening," he said rather mutely.

"I got blood work back on Kato Hiro today; he'd come back from a mission a few days ago with a bacterial infection and I needed to take a closer look.

"Sasuke, do you know what I found out?" The question was almost rhetorical. She barely paused before going on. "Hiro has Uchiha blood cells. Now, before you tell me I'm full of shit, I didn't believe it either—not right away. So I did a double check on your file and compared the two. The cells that _mark_ the potential for a Sharingan are there, plain as day. But I felt like I needed more, so I pulled Sasami's file and looked there.

"Same cells. Do you know that that _means_?" She waited for him to say something, but he still had that look on his face like he hadn't taken it all in yet and didn't know what to do with it.

"Sasami and Rukia are Uchiha," she finally said, "But then I wondered, why didn't Hiro or his brother have the Sharingan yet? They're old enough now. So I did a check on Hiro and found out someone sealed away his ability to activate it.

"Someone went through a lot of trouble to hide the fact that Hiro and his brother were Uchiha. But if Sasami did it, why? If she were afraid of losing her sister and her nephews during the coup then why not simply tell everyone they were Uchiha?

"But then I thought about Itachi… and the heavy cloud that hung around him and his own memories. I thought about how much he loved you and I realized Sasami didn't want her civilian family mixed up in clan politics. But at the same time she didn't want them hurt during the coup anymore than anyone else.

"Like Itachi, she loved Konoha and she didn't want to lose that."

After that Sakura was quiet, not having anything left to say. She'd told him everything she knew—everything. No, that wasn't true; she'd gotten that note today from her contact.

"Is that it?"

"No, there's one more thing," she admitted as she looked at his impassive features. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign. "Today I got a note from my contact telling me things were getting tighter and that I should watch out because something bigger was going on.

"I'm running out of time, Sasuke. That's why I need to decode this book now and find that scroll. If the enemy gets it… then there's no hope for Itachi… or Isao. Your brother doesn't deserve that; your nephew doesn't."

He sighed and closed his eyes, finally looking away from her.

"So, what are going to do about? Stop me? Yell at me? Tell me I'm lying to you? Tell me I'm in love with your brother again?"

"Are you trying to start a fight with me?" His eyes snapped to hers.

"No."

"Then why are you on the offensive?"

She raised a brow. "I've almost never had a reason not to be, Sasuke. Look at my life, and ask me, why am I not _always_ on the offensive?"

He sighed again and looked away, elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. He wasn't sure he could fault her there. "Sakura…this is a lot of information for me to process. What do you _expect_ me to say?"

"I expect you to believe me and help me, like you said you were." Her eyes narrowed. "Look, I understand your feelings about brother—more than you know, Uchiha. You can't wash away all of that overnight, regardless of the evidence smacking you right in the face. But, if you can't see past your hurt to do this for him then at least think of your nephew and what this could mean for him. _Sacrifice_ your feelings and put aside your anger… jealousy even, over something I did when we were teenagers… And think how this could improve my son's life."

"I never said I didn't believe you."

"But you didn't jump to say you did either."

Silence.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

"I'll help you."

That was all she needed to hear. With a soft smile she turned back to the journal and opened it. The pen was retrieved from the floor and she moved to go back to work. "Ok, now what I need you to do is—."

Suddenly she was out of her chair, wrapped in his embrace, and being kissed very thoroughly. His hands were fisted on her shirt back, holding her tightly as he sucked in a break through his nose and invaded her mouth with tongue. At first she was too taken aback to respond in any way. But then she did—gradually; she kissed him back as the action slowed and he pulled his head back. His forehead bumped onto hers and he exhaled a breath raggedly.

"Sasuke…?" she asked softly.

His small bark of laughter surprised her, and even worried her a little. Her brow knit.

"Somewhere… in all of that information… I distinctly remember you saying something about still loving me.

"Do you, Sakura?"

His dark abyssal hues were penetrating her, sinking into her and demanding an honest answer. She felt her heart strain at the question, the look he connected to her with. Her jaw went a little slack as she tried to discern through the shock of him being so direct an answer.

But then, he should know already. _For so long_, she was one knocking and he wasn't answering.

"Sasuke," she whispered, her eyes slightly narrowed and soft, "I—."

"Mom!"

Both of them broke apart as the door to the study slammed open and bounced against the wall.

Sakura blinked. "Isao? What's wrong?"

"Some people are here for you; ANBU types saying they need you right away."

For some reason, that didn't sound right. "Where are they now?"

"In the living room waiting on you."

She sighed, a little frustrated that her work had been interrupted again. "Alright, I'm coming."

She followed after her son, Sasuke but a few steps behind her. There were four of them there, all masked and geared out. "Can I help you?" she asked.

One of them stepped forward. "The Hokage wants you."

Sakura raised a brow. "And she needed to send four of you to tell me that…?" Somehow that didn't sound right to her.

"It's an order, Haruno."

While it was true that ANBU didn't usually explain themselves… there was generally some sort of leeway, especially with her. This wasn't like the usual breed at all. She tested the waters. "Let her know I'm on my way then. I need to grab a few things."

"You're to come now."

"Just out of curiosity, before I go, mind showing me your tongues?"

He stiffened visibly. "And why would you need to do that?"

"Oh you know, to confirm you're not Root."

And that's when the attack started.

* * *

**AN ::** Do you know this chapter was almost 13k words? 13k! …. That's a lot of words, damnit—for me! Hell, for one chapter for me, really.

So a lot went on here, huh? Sakura got a warning, information, revealed the truth to Sasuke and quite possibly found the key to decoding the journal. And nooooow they're under attack. Isn't it awesome? You bet your ass it is.

I should wrap this up in about five more chapters; but! if you think this is the end of the surprises in store to read, you're dead wrong. I've got a few left. Can you guess what they are?

—**Blade **


	12. Chapter 11

.

* * *

_There it was again; the anguish. It was knocking on the edge of her mind, asking for her to let go and release. And here she was again, reminding herself it wasn't worth it. No good would come of breaking down; no good would come of crying; no good would come of thinking, for the fiftieth or so time today, that they were one day away from the start of starving to death. She couldn't ration out their food any further; it was becoming harder to forage with every dead end._

_Home felt miles away. Seconds felt like hours, hours like days, and days like months. So much time had passed mentally; her friends felt so far away, her life did._

"_Chīsana Hana."_

_Sakura looked up, dimming green eyes blinking in some sort of haze. She felt dizzy._

"_Are you alright?"_

"_I'd prefer not to answer that." She shut her eyes and sunk further back into the wall she was leaning back into where she sat._

_She was so _tired_. Not physically; no, emotionally. She was done seeing a blue glow everywhere she went, something she'd originally thought pretty. What she wouldn't give to see the sun or green instead of gray everywhere she went._

_There came a cool palm on her forehead; she didn't react to it._

"_You don't have a fever."_

"_I know. I monitor my own body temperature through internal chakra. Doesn't take much to get an accurate reading."_

"_Sakura…"_

"_Don't say it, Itachi," she murmured drolly. "Don't say it._

"_Don't say we'll be alright. Don't tell me we're close to getting out. Stop yourself before you say the food will last, or that we'll find some more to forage._

"_We're out of miracles, Uchiha. And I feel old; older than I have in years; old enough to _know_ when to be a realist." Funny how a short period of time could make you feel twice your age; no wonder Kakashi walked with a slouch._

_She chuckled softly, bitterly. "I'll never get to save him, to say goodbye." She didn't move when his hand touched her face, nor when his thumb caressed down her cheek._

"_You can't make it better anymore," she whispered, still seeing the darkness behind her eyelids._

_That's when she felt a pressure on her forehead… his pressed against hers. Her hands were in his; he squeezed. "It's not alright," he whispered. "We might not get out," he went on. "And there's a good chance we could starve to death in a matter of days," he said in some kind of punctuated finality._

_Slowly, she opened her eyes. Emerald met pitch._

"_But only if we let it happen," he said. "And I _refuse_ to."_

_She licked her lips slowly, closed her eyes once more, and then reopened them to meet his gaze. "When you say that," she said softly, "it's almost enough. It's the same thing I once heard in Sasuke's voice… Naruto's…. that determination._

"_Why can't I have that?" A tear slipped finally. "Why…" she breathed, chest heavy._

_His thumbs rolled over her fingers and he squeezed again._

"_I think I've run out of right things to say," he whispered softer still, watching her more intently, eyes shifting back and forth over hers… as if reading._

_It was then she realized their closeness, his warmth, her ache, and the way it all made her feel… and likely made him feel._

_And for once she didn't over think it._

_She kissed him._

* * *

Chapter Eleven

It wasn't until the last body hit the floor that Isao actually found himself blinking; not because he'd kept himself from stopping, but because that was how long it took for both his uncle and his mother to take out four Root ANBU agents: less time than it took for anyone to blink.

"Those were four…." He found himself saying aloud, staring that the last body. "_Four_ Root ANBU agents… that you just…" he trailed off in disbelief. "How…"

Sasuke turned to Sakura, sword clipping into place on his hip. "That should have taken more," he said, elongating on the point Isao hadn't even realized he'd made.

"We're not that good," Sakura agreed. "Well…" she said next, "Yes… it should have taken… _more_."

"Agreed. Too easy."

Isao blinked again. "You mean you're not that kickass?" It would have been easy to think he was joking.

Sakura smiled and turned to look at him. "Ah… well…"

"The _point_ is… why would Denzou send fodder?"

"I—."

"Because, he didn't plan on you figuring out they were his agents. That's why."

Three sets of eyes slid to the open door, the figure there swathed in a black cloak and the mask of a bird.

Sasuke flexed to move.

"Stop, Sasuke," Sakura almost shouted, hand out in his direction. Her eyes remained on the masked figure. "It's my informant."

"Yes," they said as they door shut, "your informant who just got rid of four more agents around your house who were sent to follow you after you left. But, that's neither here nor there. Have you decoded the journal, Haruno?"

"Not yet…" she said with an almost sigh in words. "But, I believe I've figured out the code."

"How sure are you?"

"Eighty percent sure. I was interrupted just as I began to test that process. That may have been why I was interrupted.

"But, why are you here?"

"Because—."

A loud explosion rattled the air, the house, and did so noticeably enough that Isao took hold of a wall and the three other adults in the room had to adjust their footing.

"What was that?" Isao asked just as soon as it as it was over.

Sasuke and Sakura both turned to look at one another at the same time before running to the door and outside. Sakura stopped, nearly tumbling to fall as she caught a look at the sky. The main part of the village was just in the distance and down the hill from where she lived on the outer rim. From it she could see smoke… chaos.

"No…" she breathed, coving her mouth. She turned to Sasuke. "We need to go help."

"Sakura, stop!"

It was the first time her masked informant had ever said her name. The momentary surprise was enough to draw her eye before she did anything further about the chaos below.

"Why do you think I came here?" they asked.

Sakura frowned. "What's going on? Who's attacking the village?"

"The Akatsuki. Everyone that's left of the group."

"But why, they've been in hiding," Sasuke said. His eyes narrowed and his arms crossed over his chest. "Why would they suddenly attack the village? There's been no intel to suggest they've been on the move.

"Nothing."

"I know," the informant said, looking at him. "That's because they had help from the inside." Their gaze through the mask turned back to Sakura. "I've been working for years on infiltrating Root, on being a shadow within an endless stream of other shadows. It's not easy.

"But, recently, my movements had been restricted. Information was at an all time low. It was like everyone in the organization closed lips tighter than before. Security increased and I was stuck, so to speak.

"And then I found out why," they went on. "Denzou made a deal with the Akatsuki leader years ago when they withdrew. When they decided to move against Konoha he'd help them get in and give them Naruto; in return, once Konoha was obliterated, so to speak, they'd help assure he was in power by whatever means he required."

Sakura's eyes narrowed and her lips parted in slight confusion. "That doesn't make sense. Denzou would never give up Naruto… The Nine Tails means too much to him as… a tool…"

They nodded. "You're right. Both sides planned the double cross. Akatsuki just doesn't know it."

"I can see how you gleamed that from within Root. But, how do you know Akatsuki planned to break the agreement?" Sasuke asked.

"Because… Denzou has a spy within the group.

"But, it doesn't matter." They turned back to Sakura. "This is yet another reason why you need to decode the scroll and find evidence that Denzou was the one to…"

"How do you know—."

"You've had your suspicions too," they interrupted. "I've always believed it was him; that's why I've been undercover within the organization… despite the fact that I've gleaned so little until recently, and not about Sasami—unfortunately.

"Ask yourself, why else would Root come to get the journal from her sister?"

"Who are you?" Sakura asked genuinely. "What is your stake in all this?"

They sighed. "We don't have time for this, Haruno! Let's just say I'm someone who gives a damn about Konoha… and a certain… brother."

For a moment Sasuke was a little put off to find those eyes through the mask on him, immediately deriving the meaning of the look.

"Look, if Denzou was the one to call in that order then when you find the scroll you'll have solid, infallible evidence against him. But if you don't go now? While the chaos is going on? It'll be easier for him to focus _all_ of his resources on _you_, Haruno. And you know as well as I do… no one will ever find out he had any dealings with Akatsuki.

"_This_ is your chance. Your only one."

Sakura held that gaze, her chest tight.

"Uzumaki and the Hokage, among other _good_ shinobi you know are handling the problem down there. They'll manage without you and the Uchiha."

"I agree."

"What?" Sakura blinked, a little surprised at Sasuke.

He shrugged. "We don't have time to sort this out. And while I do agree that one, two, three grains of rice is enough to tip the scale for the battle down there…" he motioned as he spoke, eye still on her. "…you know as well as I do that they can handle it. Rookie Nine, Neji, Tenten, Lee… Kakashi, Gai… It'll be fine, Sakura.

"This is just as important as the fight down there. We need to do this."

She hesitated. "Are sure this isn't about—."

"It's partly about him," he interrupted her, not wanting to bring up Itachi in front of Isao right now. "I won't lie about that. But, if it is Denzou… I want to make sure we can nail him this time. How many times has Tsunade tried… failing to? Naruto even? The evidence hasn't been there.

"You know I'm right, Sakura. This time… it's worth it."

She wanted to think about it more, but this was one of those moments she needed to act. Time was of the essence. And with Sasuke backing her up... They could this.

She nodded. "Alright. Let me grab my gear so we can go." She ran into the house.

"I have to go. There are other things I need to do. Take care of her, Uchiha." And then the informant was gone, smoky cloud pluming in empty space.

Sasuke turned to Isao just as Sakura returned, pack in hand. "I'll change on the way to a safe place to decode the journal. Isao," she said as she faced her son. "I need you to find Shikamaru and your team. If you encounter ANBU directing you otherwise insist to see their tongue. If they refuse…"

"Run, I know." He nodded. "I should go with you though." He didn't look happy about not being included.

"Konoha needs you more. You need to help people evacuate the dangers." She knelt down and took him in a hug. "If something happens… you know how to find me."

"I know, mom."

"I love you," she whispered.

"Me too, mom… Be careful."

"You too." It was then she pulled away, kissed his forehead, and stepped back.

Isao looked up at Sasuke. "Take care of my mother."

"I will."

"You haven't… not always. But, I'll forget about it, if you don't screw it up this time, Uncle."

Sasuke nodded.

Isao looked back at his mother. "I'll leave first. But, what do you want me to tell people if they ask where you are?"

"That you don't know. I wasn't home when it happened. Neither of us were." She glanced at Sasuke.

"And if someone… _important_ asks?" He eyed her.

"You'll know what to say, Isao." She ruffled his hair. "Now, hurry, go. We don't have time to chat anymore."

With a swift nod… he was gone.

In the same moment both Sasuke and Sakura shifted out in another direction. Tree branches were a brief thump under them, in sequence.

"You think he'll be alright?"

"He will. He's your son… My brother's." He glanced at her, making eye contact between a jump.

She held that gaze. "You're right," she agreed quietly, landing and then jumping again. "It's just not easy… missions… that's one thing. A war…"

"I know. But, he's ready. More than I ever was at that age."

She smiled, sadness only slightly present. "I suppose that comforting."

"Trust your son, Sakura. We need to focus. Now, do you have any idea where you want to go to do this?"

She sighed, realizing he was right. "Somewhere close and private. I don't know how long this could take."

"With my help, not long."

"Right. Sharingan." She gave a quick nod, realizing he'd thought of something she hadn't. "How long will it take you to pick specific words from sentences?"

"How many pages? And how many words per page, average?"

Sakura began to do math in her head. "I think there's about… fifty pages. And…" she paused, thinking again. "I'm going to guess… no more than fifty to eighty words per page based on the size of her handwriting and the size of the pages."

Sasuke pondered that. "It depends on how quickly you copy information down on paper."

"Quickly. I can write in shorthand. I average about one hundred and fifty to two hundred words per minute."

Sasuke blinked, genuinely surprised. He caught himself well enough though and added that into his own averages. "… Maybe fifteen minutes."

"No room for error?"

He shook his head. "The Sharingan copies information. Unless I had some kind of concussion…" he joked mildly, "then no."

"I'm just making sure," she added.

"Now, to my original question. Where are we decoding it?"

"Like I said—."

"I know, close and private."

"Yes. Suggestions?"

"The compound."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Akatsuki will leave it alone. There's no one there to do any damage to. And…"

"Yes?"

He looked over at her. "Sasami married into the Uchiha. If she were going to hide something that important… she'd hide it in the last place Denzou wouldn't think to look for it. And I doubt he would expect her to hide it there. Not if he knew she made it complicated to find with a coded journal."

Sakura processed that. "That's something I'd do…" she agreed. "Hide something under someone's nose."

"Hopefully I'm right."

"I'm willing to test it. Let's head that way."

…

**.**

…

Questions. That's what ran through his head, a ton of questions. He wished he'd ask them before, but it was too late now.

His mother was involved in something, something big. He wasn't entirely out of the loop, but his uncle obviously knew more than he did. And he wasn't stupid; this had to do with his father. In fact, he was fairly certain it had to with the all of the Uchiha, dead as they were.

Everyone in the tight knit group of Rookie Nine knew Denzou was bad news, even if his mother and he weren't much part of that because of the clans. Ino, Chou-chan, and Chouji were some of the few to defy that beyond sneaking a wave, a smile, or a sad hello. But, the point was, because he and Chou were apart of that second generation—they'd heard a lot about Denzou just from listening to the adults talk.

And really, that's why he had so many questions right now; because all he'd done was listen to them talk in the house and on the front lawn. But, he'd done that because if he had started asking questions right then he would have learned little. Adults noticed you less and talked more if you just didn't speak up.

All he could gather was that they needed to find a scroll; to do that they needed to decode that journal/book his mother had; and in the end the scroll would help prove Denzou had committed some crime. Bad enough, anyway, to put him in prison. But if it had to do with his father he knew there was more to it than that. Which, honestly, was another reason why he wanted to go; he needed to see where the ball dropped and if it meant anything for him.

However, his mother was right… at the moment he needed to help the village; there were hundreds of civilians that needed—.

The air changed while he was between branches. Something shot out, reaching like a claw. Red and black flashed in his eyes and his hands slid into a series of signs.

"Katon!" he shouted. "Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He exhaled fire, using the momentum to avoid the grab; there was immediate relief as his feet thumped solidly against a branch. Across from him, on a slightly lower branch, was the figure who'd made a grab for him.

He remained in a fighting stance, blood red and black tomoe narrowed in his eyes as he focused on the ANBU.

…Naturally, it was then he realized he'd forgotten to surprise his uncle and his mother… what with the whole attack from Root… Which sucked—a lot. He'd been waiting a few hours for them to get home to shock the hell out of them. It figured… but he needed to focus on the now. He'd tell them all about his last mission, the unexpected turn it took, and how that led to his birthright once this was all over.

"You're an Uchiha," the figure said in a deep voice that lacked almost all emotion with some amount of surprise. It was odd, to say the least. Isao thought his uncle was the only one who could pull emotionless and surprised off at the same time.

"You must not be from around here," the boy replied cautiously. "Or, you've been living under a rock for a while… But, I'd bet to say since Root is usually well informed… you're probably with Akatsuki if you don't know who I am." His eyes narrowed.

There was some hesitance from the figure. "I'm not Root… nor Akatsuki. I'm looking for someone."

"Me?"

"No, but I was hoping you could help me."

"Then why did you try to attack me?" He was fully prepared to run at this point.

The ANBU sighed. "I wasn't attacking you. I just didn't think you would have stopped if I called after you."

It was really hard to make a decision at this point. It was entirely possible that he was telling the truth. It was possible that he was standard ANBU. He had… rarely… met shinobi in the village who didn't know who he was, or even of him. There'd been an incident some time ago where someone had been on a ten year mission; they hadn't been around to even hear about the nature of his birth. Then again, it was probably little conceited to think _everyone_ knew of him because of the rumors.

"Do you work for Tsunade?" Isao asked cautiously.

"I'm loyal to the Hokage—the village. I always have been."

His gut, Kami help him, was telling him he was one of the good guys. And damnit, he was _never_ wrong. He just couldn't afford to make a bad judgment call. "Who are you looking for?"

"Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. I have an important message to pass onto them."

He really _couldn't_ afford to, no. But, if he was telling the truth… and Isao turned him away… He was the _only_ one who knew where they'd gone. He was the only one who could find them. "Show me your tongue," Isao ordered. "I'll know then. And don't try any genjutsu to trick me."

"Very well…" The mask lifted… just high enough that Isao could see his mouth. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stuck his tongue out.

No seal.

"Alright," the younger Uchiha murmured. "I hope to hell my gut is right about you… because if it isn't…." He sighed and relaxed his form. "Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke are on a secret mission. Do you know what's going on in the village right now?

"Honestly?"

The figure turned his head to the distance, where the smoke erupted and the flames and destruction burned on. "Akatsuki and Denzou made a double deal. This fight is the result, so to speak."

"Right, well, you know more than everyone else… I'm guessing. Does Tsunade-sama know?"

"I've sent a message to her via hawk. She will know shortly if not already."

"Why didn't my mom think of that?" Isao said aloud to himself before he just shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "Whatever, I guess it doesn't matter. Look," he said, "I'm not really sure what I'm allowed to tell you. So, it's probably just best if I bring you to my mother and uncle.

"We need to hurry though."

"But I need to see—."

Isao sighed and smiled at the same time as he joined the ANBU on the branch. "Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke _are_ my mother and my uncle.

"Now let's go." With that, he was heading in the other direction, hand seals forming to use the method his mother had developed should and emergency arise and he had to locate her at any time. It worked in reverse as well; he'd dealt with it enough as a child to know _how well_ it worked.

As the ANBU caught up with him he released the jutsu. In the palm of his hand a compass of chakra pulsed. "Good, we're going the right way, ANBU-san."

"I hope you're right."

"Always," Isao replied, cocky grin ready.

…

**.**

…

"How's this?"

"Works," Sakura replied as Sasuke shut the trap door above and switched on the light. "What is it though?"

"An Uchiha hiding place; it was used by the elders to hide clan secrets, including the Mangekyo. Tsunade knows of it, but I doubt Denzou does. Let's put it this way, there aren't many people still alive that know about it.

"Can we breathe down here?" A brow rose as she walked towards a table. It was a dusty, rickety thing… but it would do. Besides, she didn't feel right setting up on the back far left wall where a small alter sat with some Uchiha writing etched into the stone.

"There are vents, but none that lead anywhere someone would hear us."

She nodded, feeling better about that. She pulled the table into the center of the room and wiped the dust away, causing both her and Sasuke to cough. "Sorry," she muttered as she set her pack on the table and began pulling things out.

"It's fine."

Sakura pulled a pad of paper out and a pen. She handed the journal to him. "Here, grab me that chair. You can read aloud and I'll write."

Sasuke took the journal and slid the chair against the wall next to him over to her.

"Whenever you're ready, Uchiha."

"Sentences that have love, hope, and, faith, right?"

She nodded. "Just give me the first word of each of those sentences; if it's not the word, I can still narrow it down to the letter and work from there."

"Alright."

And so they started. Sakura's pen scribbled each word as Sasuke spoke each one, Sharingan activated. Neither really knew what the other was saying accept each moment it happened, like some well oiled machine. However, five minutes into it, Sakura stopped him.

"What?"

"Do you… notice anything odd about… the words?"

"Like?"

She blinked at him, one brow up.

He sighed. "I'm not really paying attention to what I say. My brain and eyes are just focused on finding each word and spitting it out for you write down. It's a little hard for me to do that _and_ keep track."

"Right, sorry. Do you have your page, or ah... spot marked?"

"Yes."

"Then here, look." She held the pad up to him.

"I can't read shorthand, Sakura."

"Forgot," she muttered, berating herself. Ok," she said louder, "here's the thing. I've been putting a dash between each word to keep it all separate. I haven't been paying much attention either. I've just been trying to write at the speed you speak each one out. No problem. But… I noticed…"

"Yes?" He was leaning over her, watching at her watch the pad with one had flat on the table top.

She bit the end of her pen. "All of the words are hand signs… Like a jutsu."

Sasuke didn't say anything. Not yet.

"I—."

"Read it out loud to me," he ordered, but not rudely.

She looked up at ad him as he pulled away from the table, journal left there next to her. He started pacing slightly.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Maybe. Just read it to me. I'll let you know."

So she did.

"I know what it is," he said more to himself than Sakura. He looked over at her. "It's a temporary summoning contract."

"…A what?"

Sasuke sighed. "It's hard to explain, but I'll try."

"Why have I never heard of this?"

"Because it's very difficult, and little outdated because of its difficulty. High ranking shinobi us them—sometimes. ANBU does on rare occasions. I know because of Itachi. He could do it; his whole team could."

"Alright."

"The shinobi with the summoning contract sets it up with the summon beforehand. It's an emergency back-up and requires the complete agreement of the summon because they do most of chakra work.

"You understand how summons work right?"

She looked at him like he'd grown a third eye. "Of course I do. You use hand signs to help execute the chakra to transport the summon into this plane. Your blood solidifies it and tells the summon it's you, so to speak. That's the basic idea without getting into detail, anyway."

"Right," he agreed. "A temporary summoning contract kind of works in reverse. Shinobi would use it just in case one of their teammates needed to and they couldn't be there to summon their animal. Or, if a shinobi of higher rank had to complete a mission, but needed a certain summon they didn't have a contract with to complete the mission.

"The shinobi will perform the long series of hand signs, helping them execute the chakra like a message to the summon on the other plane. The summon will feel the call and the location and come; they'll use their own chakra instead of the other way around. Once there, it's up to the shinobi who called them to give them some of their chakra."

"Now I can see why it's not used often…"

He nodded. "It requires immense chakra control to give over your chakra. It's not all that different from being a healer."

"Got it. So, how many pages are left to look through? We've got about… a page filled with hand signs."

He frowned. "At least half."

She sighed and flopped back against the chair. "So… assuming that it's the same as the first part…"

"…We've got about another page of hand signs coming to us."

"I can't execute that, Sasuke. My chakra control is amazing, I know that. But… that kind of memorization would take me weeks… maybe a few days if I worked nonstop."

"You can't, but I can."

"Yes, you can," she agreed, frowning. Her hand came up and wiped down her face, exasperated. "But can you do it without making even the smallest mistake?" She set narrowed green eyes on him, cheek in her palm while her elbow rested on the table.

"I'll have to. We don't have any other option. Besides… if this is how she hid the location… I'm almost certain Sasami meant for an Uchiha to use the Sharingan to find it this way. That's why this is so complicated."

"Probably…" she sighed out a she went back to look at her pad. "Of course, this means we have even less time to work with."

"I know," he replied as he picked the book back up and went to the page he'd been on before. "Let's get it done then."

"Right."

Ten, perhaps fifteen more minutes passed on when Sasuke came to the last word. Sakura's hand was poised, waiting for more.

"That's it," he said.

"One page… front back. Kami," she whispered, staring at it. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Red eyes with black tomoe found hers. "We have to. I need you to read each hand sign so I can memorize it. I'll be reading your lips, so I need to stand up and face me. After that…" He shrugged. "I'll keep doing it till I get it right."

"Do you need to use blood like with a regular summon?" she asked as she stood up and faced him.

"Unfortunately, yes. But," he began, seeing her look, "if I screw up I won't get that far. I'll just start over. Trust me, I'll know by then."

"Good," she muttered. "I don't need you bleeding out all over the place."

A single brow rose.

"I'm just going to start reading, alright?" Without looking up at him for confirmation she began reading each sign, making sure she enunciated so her lips clearly expressed each word differently.

Less than five minutes passed on before she stopped and looked up at him. Just as she did he closed his eyes and exhaled.

"Well?"

"I'm just wondering how big this summon will be…"

"We'll have to chance it, Sasuke. We don't have time to find a new location."

He frowned, but nodded.

"It's not like we could have predicted we'd have to do that. But, knowing Sasami as I do from the journal… I get the feeling she probably planned ahead. I doubt whatever it is will be so big it won't fit in this room."

He didn't reply as he closed his eyes and prepared his hands, making sure to focus his chakra in just the right way. In his mind he visualized her lips moving through each one and began. Carefully, his hands wove one at a time, pacing the chakra evenly and precisely.

"That's it," he heard Sakura whisper. "Halfway done."

He couldn't waste chakra doing this a second time. He didn't have the control Sakura did to provide it with chakra to remain in this plane if needed. And _they_ needed every drop of energy they had for this mission.

"Nearly there," she said, anticipation in her voice.

_Five, four, three…_ he counted down. Two seconds later, last sign in, he cut his thumb and pressed his hand into the ground, speaking the command.

White smoke filled the room, evaporating as it came. Both he and Sakura stepped back, waiting for it to clear.

"Did it work..?" he heard her ask.

_I hope so_, he thought to himself.

"It's…" she started to say.

Two black beady eyes blinked up at Sasuke. Betwixt a black beak sat a small book. "A crow," he finished.

The bird was bigger than an actual crow, but that wasn't unusual for a summon or even an animal nin.

It dropped the thin book on the floor. "Good, you're an Uchiha. Sasami was worried it'd end up being one of those Root bastards who summoned me. I _told_ her I'd know the difference by the chakra." He rolled his eyes—somehow. "Silly girl. Book smart, but sometimes a little short on the whole common sense thing. She _is_ a shinobi though."

"Orion…?"

The bird blinked.

"You know him, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

He looked up at her. "He was my brother's summon… one of them. Years ago, obviously."

"Sasuke? I wouldn't have pegged you to be the one to use that temporary contract. Well… you've grown. Why it wasn't—."

"We don't have time for that, Orion. I need to know where the scroll is."

"I can't tell you that." As soon as Sasuke began to open his mouth he amended himself. "_This _book does. This is Sasami's original journal.

"Now listen, I don't have much time before my chakra is spent and I'm sent back. The last few pages will tell you what you need to know; the rest of it you already read from the journal that helped you summon me. She clearly marked the ones you need to read. Got it?"

"We understand," Sakura replied.

"Make sure you guys fix it…" Orion said, looking like he was frowning. "What that man did to Itachi-kun… her sister… it wasn't right."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Wait… what do you mean her—."

But then he was gone, cloud of smoke evaporating in his wake. All that was left was the book.

Sakura picked it up off the floor. "Whatever it was, let's not worry about what he meant. We've still got to find that mission scroll, Sasuke."

"We don't have time for you to read all of that. Let me—."

"I have a jutsu, actually," she told him as she sat down and placed the book flat in front of her on the table. "I couldn't use it before because I had to find and copy specific words. This jutsu doesn't do that. It takes the words from the text and processes the information—the context. So, I'll still know it, but not the details of the text. It plays it out like a story in my head.

"I created it so I could cut down my required reading for medical texts."

"Isn't that cheating?"

She shrugged. "Kind of. But, it works. I just copy and memorize the vocabulary words and run through the book and how it all works in practice." She sighed. "I realize that sounds weird, but trust me. It works."

"It's fine, I need to rest my eyes anyway. They're starting to strain from all the use."

"Good idea. This will only take a moment and then we can leave." Like Sasuke had before, Sakura closed her eyes and placed her hands in the sign for focusing chakra. Once satisfied that she'd pulled enough focus into it she began moving her hands rapidly, smoothly transitioning from one sign to the next and opening the chakra pathways needed.

Six, seven, eight hands signs later and placed her hand on top of the book and went still.

Sasuke watched a green glow enveloped the second journal and her hand. It ran up her arm and faded as though it were sinking into her skin. He couldn't stop himself from using the Sharingan for just one moment to see how she was processing the information. Clearly, he could make out the chakra circulating from her brain and back to the book. Which, was interesting. It meant she didn't waste any.

Two or three minutes passed by after he deactivated the Sharingan in which she was still working. But, eventually she pulled her hand away and the glow left.

"Well?"

She was quiet for a time.

"Sakura?"

"Wow…"

"What, what?"

She shook her head and wiped her face. "I'll tell you on the way. We have to go." She started packing everything back in her bag.

"Where?"

"The compound center."

"The square?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"What's there?"

In some sort of finality, she zipped her pack closed and stopped to look up at him. "Another Uchiha hiding place. One _you_ didn't even know about."

* * *

**AN :: **I'm happy with it. How about you? I'm NOT going to apologize for how long this took to get out, and not because I don't feel bad. No, because I've been genuinely busy and you guys get tired of hearing me apologize. So, I'm just going to let you bask in the fact that I got it done… and (hopefully) that you think it's awesome.

**NOTE about Isao's Sharingan: **In case you're wondering why Isao had his Sharingan so flippantly… I thought to originally have him obtain it during the fight with the four ANBU Root agents. But, then I realized that this story isn't about him—not really. It's about Sasuke, Sakura, and Itachi. First, I didn't want the fight with the four agents to be drawn out; it wasn't meant to be. So, I had the idea that something drastic happened, Isao thought Sakura almost died, and then struck a killing blow on the last agent standing. That was where I was going to start the chapter _originally_. But, then I read through it and I realized… that _still_ takes a lot of focus off those two. So, I decided to change it where he'd gotten it on the last mission and wanted to surprise Sasuke and Sakura; it just didn't work out because… well, the attack happened and he didn't have time to think about it in all of that. So, I had him merely mention as an afterthought when the _other_ mysterious ANBU showed up to have him find his uncle and mother.

Comments, reviews, hate mail are all welcomed, however not required or expected. If you would like to keep an eye out for future fanfiction updates, as well as my original work, **please check me out on my facebook page; look me up under Kit Roe**. If you can't find it for some craaaaazy reason… send me a message or leave me a review saying so I'll send you the url. Thanks!

—**Blade**


	13. Chapter 12

.

* * *

"_I feel like I should apologize. But, I think that would be insulting."_

_The words echoed in the room, if one could call it that. She leaned against the wall, shoulder pressed into it. Her eyes stared on downward and next to her, every once in a while looking up at his back. He was some feet away from her, hand placed on the opening as he stared out at nothing in particular. His hair was down; the tie had been lost on the floor somewhere from when she'd pulled it out during the act._

_It was funny when one considered how before she'd made her choice about doing that with him, he'd pushed her away because of one kiss. Quiet had raged on after that; he'd fallen asleep, she'd pretended to sleep, and then she'd climbed on top of him—out of feeling._

_And now… more silence—sort of._

_It was all just a way to _not_ look at each other, truthfully._

_He was coughing again, she could hear it. But, there wasn't much she could do anymore. Everything became a patch, a band-aide to prevent the inevitable. Her own metaphor wasn't lost on her._

"_You shouldn't. And it would be," she replied finally. "I wanted to and you—."_

"_Sasuke," he whispered, just as he'd whispered it hours ago when he'd tried to put up a fight then._

_There was silence._

_Her footsteps echoed as she came next to him and stopped. She could feel his eyes on her for a moment; they stayed, but she didn't look at him. "We might not make it out. I've come to terms with that." _I might never see Sasuke again_. She looked at him, meeting his gaze. "You're a good person, Itachi," she said softly. "I need you to know you're not a replacement—for him. You're you. And in some way… I think I love you." She closed her eyes and turned her gaze away. "No, I know I do… even if it's not the same." She paused, thinking. "Everything is so complicated. I just don't want something to happen and never get to say that to you." Her hands fisted at her sides._

"_Sakura—."_

"_You don't have to say anything back; it's not meant that way…," she said quickly, but just as softly. "I didn't… I didn't think I could love two people so differently at the same time._

"_And I know I'm rambling, barely making any sense. But, I had to—."_

"_I understand, Chīsana Hana."_

_She met his gaze once more._

"_We're more than friends." He looked around at the walls, the ceiling, of the underground prison. "Any two people who've spent as much time together as we have down here are bound to be just that. It's not complicated, and it's not earth-shattering… it's a simple closeness than can only be earned, not discovered."_

_He looked back at her and reached up; his palm flattened against her cheek, caressing._

"_I don't want you to hate yourself for something I did because I wanted to, because you needed someone… because I needed someone, Itachi," she said._

"_I have few regrets; you are not one of them." He ran his thumb over the highest point of her cheek, holding her gaze. There was more he wanted to say, but the words weren't there. Not yet. And really, it wasn't fair—not to her. He needed to say more. Time was running thin and there was a good chance that if he didn't them he might never be able to again._

"_Do you… hear that?"_

"_What?"_

_Sakura stilled, listening. "A chirp from…"_

_Itachi stilled as well as the sound passed over, echoing along the walls. "A bird," he finished. "Come on," he took her hand and ran, following the noise and straining his ears to hear it._

"_We're getting closer. It's louder," she confirmed for him._

_Two, three, four, turns and Sakura jerked him to a stop. "There!"_

_He followed the direction of her hand. On the floor sat a small blue jay drinking from a puddle of water. But around him… was a flood of light._

_Sakura directed her gaze upward. "There's a hole; I think we can reach it." She ran to it, scaring the bird away in the process. Her fingertips barely grazed the lip. "Lift me up. If I can get my hand outside…!"_

_Itachi wasted no time in helping her onto his shoulders._

"_There! Give me just a moment and brace yourself. I'll need the leverage to make the hole bigger."_

"_You can do that?"_

"_Well…" she said slowly, grunting as she adjusted her arm through the hole, "The part that's outside of the hole should allow me to use chakra. So, if I form it my hand like always…"_

"_Then we'll have a bigger hole," he finished._

"_Exactly."_

_Itachi settled his legs and locked them as solidly as possible. He kept his gaze down, knowing the moment she started to pull and grunt that there would be debris showing down on him. And that was just what happened._

"_Keep holding that position!" she hollered over the noise of breaking rock, raining grass and dirt. "It's… almost… there! Done!"_

_He set her down and stepped back. She was laughing—loudly._

"_We did it! Come on!"_

_He looked up as he was dusting himself off; it was just in time to see her rear disappear beyond the glow._

"_Hurry up!" she cried again._

_Her hand was right there as he climbed upward; she helped him the rest of the way as he stood. In that moment he found himself in an embrace._

"_We're free," she whispered. "Look, has the sun ever looked better?"_

"_Never," he admitted as he stared out over the grassy mountainside covered in trees and looked above to the sky just short of the sun._

"_I can hunt for food—real food." She stepped away as she said this, hands on her hips. Her inhale was deep. "Fresh air—finally._

"_Itachi—."_

_There came a sudden stillness in the air and with it coupled an electricity—a flash of chakra. It was one both of them knew very well._

"_Sasuke," she whispered._

_There was a long moment and they didn't say or do anything. Eventually though, Sakura looked over at him. "What are you going to do?" she asked softly._

_He was quiet still._

"_Itachi?"_

_He met her gaze and then closed the distance between the two of them. He was tempted to place his hands on her shoulders, but resisted as he found the words he couldn't find earlier. "Thank you—for everything, Sakura. This week was not something I ever would have wished on anyone—certainly not you. However… I'm thankful for it all the same. Despite the situation, you gave me happiness that I have not had in my life since long before the order to kill my family._

"_I love you with all of the same meaning you attempted to explain in my regard earlier. Know that feeling is mutual and nothing will change that. The kinship I feel for you can never be replaced or replicated." He could see the tears form in her eyes and words starting to form in her head. However, he had to finish. "You can't stop what I've set in motion, but I won't blindly knock you unconscious like my brother did—I know how much that hurt you and still does._

"_Don't make me, Sakura. Please."_

_She nodded, brokenly and with dejection as the tears finally started to fall. "I w-wish…"_

"_Keep the promise I asked of you, Chīsana Hana… Take care of my brother."_

"_Because you can't," she whispered._

_He didn't reply as she enveloped him in one last hug. "I'll make sure I'm there to get him." _I'll pick up the pieces_._

"_I know," he whispered back. He held on a moment longer and then stepped back. He turned before he looked at her again and lost his resolve. And then he was gone._

_Vanishing before her eyes in a murder of crows._

* * *

Chapter Twelve

"When do you plan on explaining anything?"

It was getting dark, the sun barely lingered on the horizon. Shadows mixed with the ongoing battle not far from the duo. She could smell the smoke, the ash, and even feel some of the burn. In the midst of the dead alleys and empty streets of the compound that felt surreal—odd. It felt odd because she should be there helping, fighting, and healing those who needed her.

She ignored that desire, pushed it back into the far reaches of her mind. Right now, the job she had to do was just as important even if it didn't _feel_ that way.

"We can't talk about it right now," she replied as they came to the end of the last alley. A hundred yards away was the center of the compound. A image—a memory—flashed in her mind; she could see the opening downward.

She looked back at Sasuke. "I'm going to put up a genjutsu that renders us invisible just until we get underground. You need to stick close to me so it works."

"Are you worried about someone following us?"

She shrugged and turned back, working her hand sighs. "It's possible. I want my bases covered." When he didn't say anything else she set the genjutsu in motion and waved him to follow her.

Their steps were quick until she came to the very center of the square. She still didn't speak as she dropped to a kneel and touched a few prominent tiles of stone, chakra flaring from her hands. The sequence was flawless. When she was done she stepped back and a section of the ground shifted away, grinding softly.

She glanced over at Sasuke and waved for him to keep following her in silence. Quiet followed them as they took the stairs down. A few second passed by before the opening above them closed and the light was gone. A moment later and interior lights illuminated their decent.

Sakura exhaled, stopping. "Now we can talk."

Black orbs rolled over the walls of the tunnel that led down, they looked lower and he realized it didn't go _that_ far underground. A light from a distant door was visible on the ground level from their current position. "Why was I never told…" he trailed off.

"Because only select few knew about it among the Uchiha. Your father, mother, Itachi, Shisui and Sasami—because she was Shisui's wife—were only some. I'm fairly certain Denzou isn't even aware of its existence."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed on her back as they walked the winding staircase downward. "The purpose?"

"A library for the history of your clan," she replied, shrugging. "I'm not totally sure, but I think it also carries more clan secrets and a history even Konoha is unaware of. Quite possibly dating all the way back to the Sage.

"Personally, I'd love to read for myself… given time and—," she looked back at him, "—permission, of course."

He smirked, thinking if they ever got through this that there was a solid chance she might never need permission—but, that would be thinking too far ahead, especially for him. "And Sasami?"

She nodded. "It's a long story. I'm not even sure how she fit it all into those last pages, truthfully," she started. "When Sasami married Shisui she had no idea she was an Uchiha. No one did. Her Sharingan activated during a solo mission that went horribly wrong. When she made it home she told Shisui, but begged him not to tell anyone else."

"Why?"

"Because for the last…" she stopped and thought about the math, "ten years or so things were getting very tense between the Uchiha and Konoha leaders. She didn't want to drag her sister and her sister's family into it simply because it was their birthright. And the Uchiha would have insisted on it—according to Sasami."

"I suppose that make sense."

"I'm sure it would to you; you lived through some of that tension."

He nodded.

"Anyway, Shisui was the only one who knew and he kept it quiet. They didn't even tell Itachi… mostly because they knew the path his ANBU career was taking in direct correlation to Konoha."

"He was close to the Hokage; I know Sakura."

She nodded this time. "He was expected to report everything to your father, the Uchiha head. So, suffice it to say they didn't want to risk it no matter how well they loved and trusted him." The end of the stairs came and both she and Sasuke stepped off onto the ground floor. She glanced over at him, wondering if he wanted to go first through the opening. It was more his right than hers.

After a brief eye connection he seemed to understand and went on ahead and Sakura followed behind. Both stopped as they come into the illuminated room.

Sakura blinked in surprise and awe.

Books… thousands of books… everywhere. Scrolls on shelves. Artifacts, some of them wrapped in paper. There were tables and in the center a large statue of some Uchiha ancestor she couldn't place. Discolored water flowed from it, probably due to age, and into a fountain pool around below it.

"…It has to cover at least… a quarter of the compound underground. How did they construct this without the village being aware?"

"No idea," Sasuke replied, looking on in awe himself.

"I mean, I saw brief bit of it in the descriptions from the second journal… but it wasn't this detailed in the writing that translated to images in my mind."

He looked over at her. "Do you know where to go?"

Sakura shook her head, pulling out of her own reverie to meet his eyes. "Yes, sorry… I've still got to finish telling you too. Come on," she said as she began walking and continued the story. "So, they kept it a secret. Anyway, a month before the massacre the clan elders and your father started to suspect Itachi. They asked Shisui to keep an eye on him—to spy on him. Your cousin wasn't happy about it, and he knew it just further proved that tensions were tightening. He knew something was going to happen soon; so did Sasami. Still, he did as he was asked.

"A week before the massacre occurred Itachi received the order. I knew that much from the math I did. Shisui followed him to that meeting, but didn't overhear anything; however, he was smart enough to take the scroll. He knew it had to do with the Uchiha if it had to do with Itachi; the risk was worth it to him. Oh—forgive me if I'm repeating information. I have to get it all out."

"Keep going, Sakura. I'm not complaining."

"Right, anyway, Shisui took the scroll. But, it was in code. He took it to Sasami to decode; all classified mission documents are in code—highly difficult code to break at that. He suspected that the Hokage, the council perhaps, had been compromised in some way because of where the scroll was being sent before he lifted it."

"Where? And how would the Hokage and council have been compromised?"

She locked her gaze on his. "The same place all documents that aren't needed anymore go—the furnace. And… I don't know. It doesn't say."

He narrowed his eyes. "But, classified documents don't—."

"You're right, and that's why he suspected it to be a fake. But, he didn't know who to trust aside from Sasami. And she proved his theory by decoding enough of the scroll before that night to confirm his suspicions so he could tell Itachi.

"But, he never got to. Someone killed him. Sasami had no idea who, and she feared Itachi might have done it. So, she took the scroll and went into hiding in her sister's house."

"Wouldn't the shinobi investigating her disappearance have looked there first?"

"They did, but the room she hid in was secreted carefully. It was built into the house during the Third War so civilians had a place to hide in case enemy shinobi invaded. That's why they never found her and that's where she stayed until she decoded the scroll.

"Her last entry is of where she hid it and how. And that's… it really."

"Did she ever find out who killed Shisui?"

"She writes bits about Root, but only suspicions." Sakura frowned as they neared the back wall where another altar not at all unlike the one in the other secreted underground meeting place. "She was afraid, but not for herself. Mostly for her sister and what it could mean for her nephews. She was sad also; she lost her husband. And her marriage wasn't like some were then." She stopped in front of the alter and looked at Sasuke. "She genuinely loved your cousin."

"There's more to this story," he replied.

"I know, but there's nothing left in the journal. Unless we find some documents other than the scroll… I doubt we'll ever know."

"I'm surprised her sister doesn't."

"I am as well, but I never once detected her lying… there was never a jump in her chakra. And she's not a shinobi, Sasuke. She wouldn't be able to hide it from one."

He sighed and watched as she reached out to press chakra-enflamed fingers onto the engraved wall.

"This is the place… now I just need to get the sequence right," she murmured, brow furrowed in concentration and eyes narrowed. She briefly wondered, while she worked, if anyone wondered where she was. Tsunade and Naruto were fighting off the leader of Akatsuki, whoever that was. Sasuke had told them his brother had said it was Madara. As much as Sakura would have liked to believe that, the possibility just seemed so slim. And in none of her memories retained from Itachi had Sakura ever seen his face. No one had, as far as she knew.

But, she was worried about them. All of them.

_Why did it have to happen? How did my friends end up being a distraction?_

Logically, she knew it was bigger than that. The fight outside wasn't because she needed the time. It's not like she asked for Akatsuki to attack Konoha or for Denzou to let them in. It just worked in her favor that way; she felt so wrong about that, even if it was true.

Twelve years though… finally coming to fruition.

"You're smiling."

"I am," she replied, still working. "I'm just happy. After all this time, half of it wondering if I should keep going or give up, I'm finally going to fulfill my promise to your brother." She paused, keeping careful eye on her finger movements. "He asked me to take care of you. Because he couldn't. And I promised myself that I would fix this, for him. He's dead… and he deserves to be known for the man he really was.

"My son, you, deserve that," she said, still smiling. "And knowing I'm finally going to do that..."

"It's a burden you can leave behind."

She nodded, glancing at him only briefly before going back to her work. "When I'm done, when I can hand this evidence to Tsunade, when everyone knows, and my son no longer has to listen to people tell him his father was a traitor… then the burden will be gone and my mission complete.

"Only then."

Something popped, surprising Sakura. A square piece of the wall in front of where she'd been working jumped out an inch. They both stared at it for a moment before Sakura pulled it out of the wall.

"It's a compartment," she said aloud.

Sasuke peered into it as she set it down on the altar. But, his view was blocked as she reached both hands in and lifted something out.

The scroll.

She exhaled slowly, her breath shaking. Her eyes shut and her grip tightened on it as if she were trying to soak the moment in. _Finally, Itachi_, she whispered in the depths of her mind, _finally_.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, "we've got it. Let's go. The longer we linger the higher our chances of being caught."

She nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry." She placed the scroll into her pack and slid it back over her shoulders.

"Mom!"

She stilled and looked at Sasuke. Had she misheard something? "Did you…?"

But he was looking at her just as oddly.

"Mom!"

Sakura directed her green eyes sharply as her son's voice sliced through the air some feet away from her. She could see him clearly, running towards her. For a moment she wondered why he was here. The desire to scold him was on the tip of her tongue. But then she saw the figure keeping pace behind him.

…With the mask of an angry lion.

She staggered a moment, almost falling as a sense of disbelief flooded her. It overwhelmed her so strongly that her skin pricked goosebumps, tears began to form at the corners of her eyes uncontrolled, and she had to regain her footing as she clutched one hand to her chest.

_Impossible._

"Sakura?"

She swallowed, but didn't answer Sasuke.

"Stop!" she shouted, trying to regain herself again.

Isao blinked at her, stumbling to a halt. They were roughly ten feet from her and Sasuke.

"What's wrong with you, mom?"

But she ignored her son as well. "You," she whispered as she pointed at the man in ANBU uniform.

He said nothing.

"It has to be genjutsu," she whispered, mostly to herself.

"There's no genjutsu, mom; he's not Root. I checked him before I brought him. He has a message for you."

"He's right," Sasuke replied, his own Sharingan spinning, "there's no trick. He's clean." He looked over at Sakura. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, still not processing this new development.

After a small pass of time the agent said, with some worry in his tone, "Whatever you may think of me, it wasn't my intention to frighten you, Chīsana Hana."

Tears fell heavy and suddenly as acceptance warmed over her—finally; a name in a breathy whisper escaped past her lips as she ran to him. There was just enough time to remove his hood and mask before catching her hug in return.

"Itachi."

* * *

**AN :: **Bet you didn't expect another update, huh? Well, that's all I'm going to say about that… If I keep going this way the story should finish very soon. One can hope. More to come next chapter. And more about Sasami, and from a very unlikely source.

Oh! Someone mentioned I misspelled Denzou's name. I've seen it spelled both ways. I suppose the next fiction I write will have it other way if he's in it… as it seems to come up more with the A in it. But, blarg, I've already written this fic as far as I have with it spelled with the E… sooo… I'm not changing it now. Next fic though, promise. Honestly, Romaji is a funny thing anyway. Sorry, guys.

—**Blade **


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

How did you react when the man you hated for the better part of your life showed up from the grave? How did you process it when the person you loved, who supposedly betrayed you, that slept with the woman you loved, and in turn gave you a nephew, came back to life? He could feel Sakura reacting next to him as she whispered his name and ran. Time seemed to slow as he pulled off the mask and hood. And then, there he was, just a little older looking than before… smiling that smile Sasuke never thought he'd see again.

It felt like someone had taken a grip around his heart and tightened, nearly breaking it; while, at the same time releasing it and pumping adrenaline into his system. Like Sakura had earlier, he felt dizzy—faint. Angry, too. Which emotion should he latch onto first? Did any of it make sense?

He couldn't move just then. Memories flashed before him like a movie on fast forward, pausing and playing now and then to showcase something important. That same sense of confusion he always had in his nightmares when he saw his brother happy and loving one minute, and then next becoming a demon incarnate with the armies of hell behind him was once more upon him.

But, he was real. It was all real. He wasn't a ghost or a figment of his imagination; the Sharingan didn't lie. Chakra didn't lie—and he was paying attention to that now.

"Sasuke…" he heard Itachi say as he watched Sakura pull away from him, wiping her face.

And then, just like that, Sasuke's name on his lips brought him back to reality.

And he couldn't stop the anger, nor could he stop the tears threatening to spill as he stepped forward. Somehow, he managed to keep from hitting him.

"_Why?_" he asked first, locking red and ebony tomoe on pitch. "No, better yet, where in the _hell_ have you been for the last twelve years while I looked after your _son?_"

For the first time ever—literally—Sasuke watched as obvious, genuine surprise passed over his brother's features. "…What?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he kept going. "_Why_ leave me for dead and lead me to believe it was my duty to kill you?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed, but softened as well. "You were a child, brother…"

"So, it was better to leave a _child_ with the burden of becoming a missing nin and killing you? That made more sense?" he snapped.

Itachi's eyes shut briefly and he looked away. "I—."

"There _are_ no right or wrong choices when you are a shinobi, Sasuke. Only choices. Don't blame your brother for making the best he could of a bad situation," Sakura finally cut in. "If there's anything I've learned in the last twelve years of this… search—it's that."

That raging anger turned to her; but she didn't quiver like a little girl anymore when he did that. No, green eyes, aflame and ready to verbally spar were meeting his own.

"Don't do this, Sasuke. Not now," she whispered. "Don't say something you can't take back later."

He stared at her for a moment longer, his jaw flexing and his fists tightening. He shut his eyes, forcing down a curse. Anger had always been his enemy. Unbridled, bitter, unforgiving anger that burned through people like a forest fire. Sakura was right; he just had to keep telling himself that.

Once he was certain he'd calmed down he looked back at Itachi. When he spoke again his voice was still as strong as before, it had just as much emotion, but far less angry and far more kind, "You led me to believe it was your fault, brother. You made me think you ruined my life and killed our family without purpose. And now, twelve years later, I find out that was all a lie? That Konoha falsely ordered you—."

"Falsely?" he suddenly interrupted Sasuke, brow knit. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" Sakura asked. "I assumed since you'd come here…"

Itachi's dark gaze turned to her. "I came here because I asked the boy to bring me to you. I wanted to make sure you were alright, that Sasuke was, once I saw the chaos and did a little digging myself."

"Wow, ok," she breathed. "There's a lot you don't know then. I mean, I knew you didn't know it then, or else I would have known. But, I guess—."

"The order to kill the clan was a fake; the Third didn't authorize it, is what she's trying to say," Sasuke said a little too bitterly.

"That's impossible. He—."

Sakura shook her head. "We're still trying to figure it out. But the point is, we have evidence that proves he was manipulated. More than likely through use of a jutsu. Although, honestly, I have no idea how."

"The point is, we were all manipulated. And people died because of it. Our family did. Your son was robbed of—."

"You know, I'm right _here_, people." Isao finally spoke up, looking between the three of them as he crossed his arms over his chest and stepped forward. "And as much as I love being talked about as if I'm _not here_, _while_ I try to process the fact that my whole word has decided to take a 180 degree flip… could we maybe talk about this later and pay attention to the fact that we've got someone following us down here? I give it maybe two minutes before we're ambushed."

"The boy is right," Itachi agreed as he narrowed his eyes and felt for chakra. "Four… no five."

"_Six_, actually," he affirmed, snapping a little. "One of them is trying to use a genjutsu to keep their chakra signature concealed. High-ranking at that. And for the record, I have a name and it's not _boy_—it's Isao. _Haruno_ Isao."

Itachi said nothing to this, but the barb didn't go without note.

"We need a distraction. I'm not fighting down here," Sakura said, trying to break the tension of the moment. "I won't put valuable documents to our village's history in the line of fire for a pissing contest over the scroll."

"No problem," Itachi replied as he activated his Sharingan. "I've got a plan."

…

**.**

…

There was talking, arguing, as she rounded the corner slowly. She rippled into sight, as if coming forth from the ether. The five men behind her, masked and geared, stopped as she did so. Reverberations of movement from voices echoed and outlined forms. Chakra was distinguishable in the form of four bodies and she grinned like a feline, though none could see.

"Oh, bickering," she purred out loudly to the group. She chuckled and acted as though she was examining her nails as she stopped and looked at her. She paused—briefly. "Now, if you please, the scroll."

"Like hell," the pink-haired one—Haruno Sakura—bit off as she watched her outline move into a fighting stance.

"I don't have time for this. Get them," she ordered her men. "And retrieve the scroll undamaged. I don't care who you have to kill."

Already, hand signs were being woven. She watched as the Uchiha men and the child activated their sharingans. She sighed with some interest as her men dropped like flies, all victims of the Uchiha eyes. The fifth surrendered to unconsciousness once the Haruno girl touched him.

Really, what good was Root anymore? Didn't they understand the basics?

"Idiots—tools," she spat. "I'll take care of it myself." She shifted, quickly, before anyone could take notice, right towards the boy.

"Isao!" Sakura cried loudly.

But it was too late. Even as someone tried to stop her she had him, blade over his throat and his back pressed to his front. She glared at the one called Itachi, "Go ahead, try to save your precious son with the Sharingan. It won't work; that eye trick is useless on me.

"Feel free to test you Amaterasu though." She grinned under the mask. "I'll just take your boy with me before you can stop it."

"Crazy bitch," Isao muttered, chuckling. "And stupid too." He coughed as she tightened her grip. "Do it!" he cried loudly. "Now!"

Unexpectedly, Sasuke shot forward, sword drawn and cutting forward. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was going to do. "You're more ruthless than I anticipated, Uchiha. Killing your own—." She said this was she moved out of the way quickly, leaving the boy to be gutted. The sound of smoke popping cut her short.

The Sasuke shadow-clone smirked, but they said nothing as the rest puffed out of sight, chakra in their forms spent.

The growl that emanated from her lips became a raging cry of frustration. She turned to stalk out, hitting the communicator on her neck. "I need more men. Now. Tracking them. Over."

"_What happened, Red?_"

"Don't question me, idiot! Just do it!" She cut off the radio, jaw clenching and nails digging into her palms to the point of drawing blood.

No made a fool of her. No one.

…

**.**

…

"She knew you were alive," Sakura commented. "She didn't seem surprised at all."

"I often wondered who was after me all these years," Itachi muttered as he stood up, dusted off and the secret underground door closed behind them. "I wouldn't have been able to tell until a few days ago; even then the thought didn't occur to me."

"We can talk while we move," Isao felt the need to offer as he jerked slightly and shook his head. "My clone just died."

"We should head west to one of the training grounds. It far from the fighting and close enough to ready a strategy before she finds us," Sakura offered.

"Agreed," Sasuke and Itachi said in unison. Both men looked at each other.

Sasuke frowned slightly.

"Let's move. Isao, take front."

"Fine by me," he replied as he took off first and Sakura followed second.

For whatever reason, both brothers took to matching their pace behind the pinkette.

"Root has been after you?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Itachi replied, "But, as I said, I wouldn't have known it was them. In fact, I wouldn't have known _you_ until a few days ago as well.

"I've had a case of amnesia for some time now."

"Twelve years?" Sasuke asked with some suspicion.

"It's possible, Sasuke," Sakura replied. "Extremely are, but possible." She glanced behind her at Itachi. "What caused it?"

"Long-term effects of a treatment to cure my illness," he explained. "But, that's not what you really want to know, is it?"

"What happened?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Itachi sighed as they leapt into the trees and continued on. "After our fight Kisame retrieved me, as per Akatsuki's true leader's instructions. I was taken to a base nearby and left to later have my eyes removed. But, when Kisame set me down he realized I wasn't dead. I wasn't conscious, but I wasn't dead. He assisted—somehow—in giving me enough chakra to wake up and explained to me what happened. I was content to die, but he wouldn't hear of it. He owed me a life-debt he never paid and I never asked him to. And despite my insistence otherwise, took me to a medic he'd been trying to get me to go to for years that he knew could cure my illness. She was somewhere in Mist.

"He told me he'd cover up the disappearance of my body somehow and left me there under her care." He paused as they changed direction slightly. "She didn't know who I was; the woman was a hermit and kept to herself. I still have no idea how Kisame knew of her. But, when he left me neither of us told her who I was. And when he left I knew he wasn't coming back.

"When I came to after the treatment I had no recollection of who I was or where I was. I knew basics about shinobi and the nations. I knew I was a shinobi. But, from where I came from, my name, any of it… I knew nothing.

"I wandered for a long time. And oddly enough, not very close to Fire Country or Konoha. I didn't encounter shinobi often, and when I did none recognized me. Everytime Root came after me they never spoke or explained anything." He shrugged. "So, I just took care of it and moved on with my life, not knowing who they were because they were never dressed as aligned shinobi—always rogues."

"And what brought about the memory return?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, honestly," he said as they landed in the training area. "I just woke up a few days ago and it all came back. And then I realized I needed to come back—quickly. I took a Root agent hostage when I got here and interrogated him to find out what was going on. When I found out about the double dealing between Denzou and the Akatsuki I sent an anonymous message to Tsunade and went looking for you and Sasuke. That's when I encountered the b—Isao."

He scanned the area, eyes narrowing. "We're alright for now… but, she'll be tracking us shortly, I'm certain." He turned to Sasuke. "What's this about the order being false?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden and abrupt thud of feet had everyone turning and reaching for weapons and reading hand signs.

"Denzou manipulated The Third, Itachi. And in the process made himself responsible for the death of not only your cousin, but my sister."

"You're—." Sakura started as her eyes widened a little on her informant. Her voice was no longer indistinguishable and entirely recognizable.

She reached up and pulled off her mask. "I'm sorry, Sakura. But I couldn't risk you knowing and all of this going wrong. Not until you had the scroll."

"Rukia…"

"No," Itachi whispered. "Sasami."

"_What?_" Sakura couldn't help but exclaim. "But... she died in the massacre! They found her body!"

Sasami closed her eyes and shook her head. "That was my sister… Rukia." She sighed. "It's a long story," she said to her, meeting her eyes softly. "And there's much you need to know. I just pray we have time before Denzou's lap dogs get here."

"Then start talking now," Sasuke practically ordered.

"When Itachi got the order Shisui was there, but he wasn't _in_ the room to overhear anything. You know that much. You also know the scroll was bound for the furnace, never to found."

"I didn't," Itachi bit off.

"No, of course you didn't," she replied. "At the time, neither of us knew what was going on, but Shisui brought me the scroll to decode and planned a meeting with you, Itachi," she explained, dark green eyes meeting his. "I got enough of it sorted through to ascertain it was a fake document, meant never to be found. You see, we later discovered that Denzou didn't have the Hokage's full support, but he did have the council's.

"Was the Hokage present during your briefing?"

"…No."

Sasami shook her head. "I thought so."

"But, I spoke with him after the massacre about my arrangements for Sasuke…" His eyes narrowed.

"That's because Denzou used Shisui's eye to manipulate the Hokage into thinking he agreed to it later. No one questioned the missing scroll because it was reportedly sealed. And the only people who have access to those archives are—."

"The Hokage who sealed the file or the council members present at the time of the order," he finished. "Not even Tsunade would have been able to gain access to it."

"Exactly," Sasami agreed with a nod. "So no one would have been the wiser—ever.

"At any rate… Shisui never got meet with you. He was dead when you arrived, wasn't he?"

"I didn't know what to make of it," he agreed. "But, I didn't have time to sort it out either. I'm sorry for that."

"It's alright," she whispered. "It's not like I was around to apologize to at that time."

"You hid," Sakura stepped in and said. "In Rukia's house so you could finish decoding the scroll."

"I did. I didn't know who to trust anymore accept my sister. My husband, the only man to know I, my sister, and my nephews were an Uchiha. Itachi was under suspicion for killing him. I didn't know what else to do." She looked back at Itachi. "I know I should have trusted you with the truth, but I just… I'm sorry. I couldn't risk my nephews and my sister. Not then."

"It's alright, we can talk about that later. Finish the story, Sasami," his voice was soft, kind.

The tone of kindness… it was something that surprised Sakura. But, she didn't dwell on it just then.

"The night of the massacre… I didn't know it was that night. I needed a few supplies from my house. I send Rukia out to get them for me, not thinking anything of it. She had some shinobi skills from what I'd taught her to get in and out without anyone knowing she'd been there on my behalf. So, she took some of my clothes and… when she didn't come back… people came knocking on the door." She took in a deep breath and Sakura could tell she was holding back tears.

"I pretended to be her and asked what was going on… only to be informed by a few Jounin that she was dead. I was told I needed to come identify the body of Uchiha Sasami." She shook her head, brown bangs half slapping against her temples before she wiped the cornered of her eyes roughly. "I was terrified. I didn't know what to do, especially when they said _you_ did it. I knew what had happened, the truth, but I also knew if Shisui had died because of the truth I couldn't risk being found out for what I really was.

"I coded the journal as well as I could manage and called on Orion to keep the secondary journal safe with a temporary summoning contract."

"What I don't understand, Sasami…" Sakura began. "If you were still alive this whole time… why not just tell me where the scroll was as the informant? Or go get it yourself and give it to me so not to pose any risk to your nephews?"

Sasami laughed brokenly, bitterly. "I would have! But I couldn't because I used my own Mangekyo on myself. Each one possesses a different ability. Shisui's was controlling someone, or mind manipulation; Kakashi-san's is a vortex to another plane of existence; mine has the ability to erase memories and manipulate the mind to see things it can't.

"When I was terrified out of my mind I used it on myself in a mirror."

"Then why didn't you just crack the code you had in the journal?"

"I couldn't… because I made it so everytime I looked at those words organized _that_ way I wouldn't understand them. They would be gibberish. Even if someone copied them down for me on another piece of paper? I still wouldn't have been able to read them.

"I full proofed it out of fear." She shook her head. "And as the years went on… I wanted to fix it. I wanted to stop Denzou and avenge my husband's name… my best friend's," she whispered, glancing at Itachi. "My only option was to infiltrate Root. And then you came along, Sakura," she whispered next, looking at her like a beacon of hope. "I said to myself, here's the Hokage's Godaime's apprentice. If anyone can crack it… she can. I knew you had a stake in it, even if I didn't quite understand the details. I knew it had more to do Itachi than about fixing the Sharingan." She glanced over at Isao. "I knew about your son… the spitting image of my best friend, my teammate.

"And I'm glad I was right."

"I just wish you'd told me the truth," Sakura said. "It would have been easier."

Sasami smiled sadly. "Put yourself in my position, Sakura. Imagine all you have left to love are two little boys… your husband has been taken from you because of trying to do the right thing, your sister because she was a bystander, and your best friend because he was determined to be martyr.

"You tell me if you would have risked someone knowing too much and it leading back to you?

"Would you do that to your boy, if he was all you had left of your family?"

Sakura held her gaze for a while, thinking it over before finally sighing. "No… I don't think I would have."

Sasami nodded.

"I think I'm beginning to understand what it feels like to have one's world take a 180 degree flip," Itachi said uncharacteristically.

"Well, at least you're not _entirely_ incapable of sarcasm, old man," Isao said, smirking.

"Well, isn't this nice," a voice said as the woman from be slunk from the shadows of the trees and dropped the ground. Five more root members followed behind her. "A family reunion." She glanced over at Sasami and chuckled. "Well, if it isn't Shisui's little _bitch_. Don't think I wasn't smart enough to figure you out, girl. Though… you were good enough to fool me until today."

Sasami's eyes narrowed as she tensed slightly, ready to move.

"Shall I tell you a story?"

"Of?" the brunette bit off.

"Oh… you know… of how your husband sounded when he died… screaming at my hand."

"I _really_ don't like her," Isao said, arms crossed over his chest. "So, mom, can we skip the preemptive battle chatter and just get right down to it?"

Sakura started to say something, but was interrupted by Itachi. "Is he always like this?"

She laughed despite the situation. "Always. But, he does have a point. I'm done with the puns." And with that, the pinkette slammed her fist into the ground.

"Go, Sasuke!"

And it began.

* * *

**AN :: **Hopefully, glaring errors aside, you liked it. ^^


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

There was so much math involved in chakra; few people actually realized it. To most of them it was second nature. But, to Sakura it was a precise equation in motion that spiraled from her core, through her body until it reached it exiting point in a loud and angry boom of explosive energy.

"Go, Sasuke!"

Rock crumbled into a rolling wave; dirt moved like water—shifting to thrust up and over. Out of the top half of her vision, just barely visible for a moment, she could see Sasuke move. They knew he was coming, but from where or how they had no idea. Fear was an amazing tactic he took advantage of; it was something Sakura couldn't quite mimic with the same finesse.

Her eyes flashed to her right and left, but Itachi and Sasami were gone. Isao stood some feet behind her, ready. She needed to keep an eye on him; he was brilliant, and better off in a fight like this than most in his age bracket, but… this wasn't any ordinary fight.

Were any of them?

It never really seemed like it.

The cloud of debris was starting to clear and she could barely make out Sasuke fighting the woman with red hair. Sakura stepped back a few paces as she felt a jump in two chakra signatures. At that exact moment two Root agents jumped from the cloud; both came, flying at her for the attack. She briefly wondered if they had something up their sleeve; people who knew of her never came headlong into the fray for close combat.

Well then… preemptive action.

She twisted her body, fueling chakra through her right leg as she swung. At the same time, she lifted her hand to block the oncoming attack from the other at her left side. Everything felt like some sort of slow motion action after that. Splinters reigned down around her right leg; replacement. The flat bottom of a sandaled foot used her shoulder for leverage and jumped over.

Fear raced across her features as she caught eyes with the one going up and over her.

She smiled.

The eyes of the Root agent narrowed, flickering and then blinking.

Her smile grew as time appeared to drag on a little too unnaturally. Green melted, twisted, and became blood red with black tomoe.

_What…?_

"Good job, Isao." Sakura said as the agent fell to her left and she righted herself. He'd caught the man's eyes before he'd looked at her, locking him in a genjutsu. She turned to look back at him, eyes narrowed as she contemplated where the other was… or had it all just been a distraction?

Trying to keep her senses aware of the fight going on behind her, she looked at Isao. "Be careful… you don't want to overdo to it with…"

He nodded. "I know. I'm pacing myself."

She wasn't so sure, but she looked back to take a glance at the fray. Sasuke was in it head to head with the lead agent. Itachi and Sasami were nowhere to be seen, and neither were the other three Root agents. So… where was the fourth one?

…

.

…

"That didn't take too long."

"No, I didn't expect it would," Itachi replied as the last agent dropped, twitching on ground. He turned to her as she shoved the final agent next the other.

"They should be out for hours. Long enough for this mess to be done with." Black and red met with a dissimilar set. She smiled.

"Let's go back and finish this."

"Agreed."

As the pair turned to run off and out of the trees a scream pierced the air.

Sasami stilled, meeting his dark gaze once more. They paused and only a few seconds passed by before both of them spoke the same word.

"Isao."

…

.

…

Pain bloomed across his forearm; red sprayed and sliced as the edge of the blade slipped across skin. He'd reached too far, blocking at the wrong place. How, he wasn't certain; the Sharingan had almost never been wrong.

He growled, gritting his teeth as he brought Kusanagi back up and parried the following attack. Lighting struck through his arm, down his blade, and crackled with a ferocious sound of crying birds. He swung in the same action, jumping and bringing it down as she brought her blade back up. The heavy weight of it cut, breaking hers in half.

Her laughter only fueled his aggression.

"You have no idea what you're in for; neither you or your little medic."

He didn't reply. Instead, he attacked again, once again breaking more of what was left of the blade. It was torn to hilt now. She backed up and he lifted his leg, kicking her. Again she laughed, catching his foot before impact and bracing herself. What was left of her sword clattered to the ground next to her.

Her faceless mask met level with his gaze. Something inside of him jerked… something was…

She shoved him back. "You won't win this battle, Uchiha. We all have something to lose. You will. Even if you survive today, you will have lost something dear."

"Enough," he snapped.

In that moment something struck; the point of a blade stuck out from her chest, colored in blood and frying with blue-white lightening. His shadow clone stared at her, impassive.

Blood trailed down her neck and she coughed, spasming where she stood. Still, somehow, she found the will to chuckle as his shadow clone became a cloud and blanked from sight. "You'll see… you will."

Then came the scream.

Sasuke's head jerked towards Sakura and Isao several hundred feet away. His eyes widened. His nephew was being held by…

…the woman on the edge of his blade. But how…? The chakra was the same…

She was laughing again. "I was a decoy. Meant to be sacrificed. Her sister… masters of chakra copycatting…" She coughed again, laughing barely. "I told you… you'd lose someone…"

Sasuke wouldn't hear anymore; he jerked his blade from her back none too gently and cut the distance between Sakura, Isao, and himself in a fraction of a second. At the same time, he sensed both Itachi and Sasami burst through the tree line. They must have heard him cry out as well.

As he stopped next to Sakura, eyes locked on the blade the woman had at his nephew's throat, he had to force himself to stop and assess the situation. One wrong move on his part or Sakura's and Isao would be dead.

"Let him go," Sakura bit off, fists tightly coiled at her sides.

And then there it was again, that deep and muffled laughter that barely broke the confines of her mask. Sasuke kept his eye on Isao; it was easy to see why he'd screamed. She was nearly breaking his wrist behind his back to keep him in that position.

"Won't be tricking me with another shadow clone now will you, brat?"

He winced as she put on a little more pressure.

Sasuke barely caught Sakura stiffening next to him just as Itachi and Sasami slipped up on either side of himself and Sakura.

"Come on now, Red," Sasami began, "We can't stand like this forever. Surely you don't plan on killing him. You would have done that already."

"I still could."

"But you won't," Itachi said.

"What do you want?" This from Sakura. "You've obviously got this all planned out. You waited for just the right moment. That's why you disguised yourself as one of the Root agents and let Sasuke think he was fighting you. And that's why you hid until the moment was right."

"Smart girl." There was a smirk under that mask, the pinkette knew. "What do I want, that is the question… isn't it?" Her masked face turned, slowly, tilting, to Sasami. "You," she muttered. "What I want is simple; a one on one match with you. I win, I get the scroll, you die and so does the boy. You win…. The day is yours, isn't it?

"Denzou won't accept me back empty handed when he succeeds."

"Not if Naruto has anything to do with it," Sakura muttered.

Red's grip tightened on Isao, causing him to grimace painfully and cry out softly as his body arched slightly. "_When_ he does… I won't come back without victory in my grasp. Even if I can't manage to take out the great Uchiha brothers and one apprentice to the Hokage… well, I can at least take out the heir and one annoying leftover. The scroll? Well, that's just extra credit." Her masked face was still on Sasami. "Then, after all is said and done, perhaps I head over to make sure I clean up the rest of the brats… before coming back for what remains of your family… right, dear?"

Sasami's face was a mixture of anger and expressionlessness.

"Let me," Sakura said.

"No, I will," Sasami finally said.

Green flashed to the brunette's crimsoned orbs. "He's my son."

"And it was my husband, my sister, my team mate," she whispered, eyes briefly darting to Itachi.

Sakura hesitated.

"I know you want her as much as I do… but…"

"Quite frankly it's not up to either of you. I fight Sasami or I kill the boy now. One of you dead is better than none of you when I report back to Denzou."

"Mom… It's alright," Isao whispered, trying not to move too much. "You can always interrogate her later when this is over… right?" Even then, he was still sarcastic.

Sakura smiled softly, but didn't respond.

"Sorry I got caught."

"It's alright…"

"Well, enough with the warm fuzzy. Let's get this going shall we?"

…

.

…

Red and black Mangekyo flickered back to Itachi and her lips made a flat line. He nodded once; it was his own way telling her it would be alright. She knew… if for some reason she didn't win this… he'd fix it.

Quickly, her eyes turned back to Red.

She knew what to expect to some degree, having spent the better part of a few years infiltrating Root to its darkest and deepest measure. And no one was more deeply merged into the muck than was Red—Denzou's right hand assassin.

The Sharingan would only do her so much good here. She didn't use her eyes, so genjutsu was out. However, she could still use it to stay just one step ahead of her—sort of. Red had been trained mercilessly to combat the Sharingan. In short, Sasami really couldn't reply on it. If she saw an in she'd use it, but it was nearly pointless to use against someone who was, by all accounts, blind and detected everything though chakra pulses and waves.

No, this fight would be battled with pure taijutsu and ninjutsu.

She waited until Red turned around and readied herself. There was a long pause and the brunette debated about who would start first. But then, Red really had no patience; not when it came right down to it. So, it was no surprise when she started weaving signs.

A fiery cloud began to form above her, around her and Sasami moved to weave her own signs. It might not be the best idea… but she'd use it to its full advantage.

It came barreling at her, two tunnels of terrible flame spinning like twin tornados turned sideways. She could feel the heat long before it came right on top of her. The seconds ticked by as she formed the last sign and whispered the jutsu.

Sakura, who still remained next to Sasuke, kept her eye on Sasami. Those green eyes narrowed as she forced herself not to grind her teeth to death while she watched on. "Is she…" she trailed off. She blinked and then her eyes widened. "She's going to use a wind jutsu? Against _fire_?"

"Sasami is nothing if not a calculating thinker. She wouldn't do it if she didn't think her plan would work," Itachi supplied.

"Still…" Sasuke murmured, praying his brother was right.

Thin spirals of wind and air formed around her, circulating and dancing as the fire came night on top of her. They spun wildly and moved very specifically, encompassing the flames as she stepped back a few feet. Sweat blistered her brow and strands of her hair came loose, slapping carelessly around her face.

A moment passed where the two jutsus fought for control; the fire grew larger and much more frantic. But, ultimately, the wind became one with it.

Sasami whispered the last of her jutsu and in a sudden burst of aggression the twin pillars of flame turned an attacked Red.

"Shit," she barely heard her say with a snap before she managed to conjure another jutsu quickly. A wall of water rose up, killing the pillars almost immediately; however, not before she was sprayed in a downpour of splattering water. It rolled off her mask as dirt became mud around them; it dripped off her slicked uniform and uncurling digits.

Sasami smirked. "You honestly think I snuck my way into Root with my brains alone?"

And then it began in earnest.

Wind clashed against fire over and over again; in a way it was amazing to watch how the code breaker used an element that should have an overwhelming disadvantage against one such as fire. She used it as a shield, a control, and even an effective way to turn Red's own tactics against her.

Fire spun as a whip, barely grazing her a few times and nearly snaking around Sasami's ankle; she substituted a log and came up from behind and executed taijutsu. Red went flying forward towards the ground, only to splash and become a water clone. Sasami turned to her side just as the fiery whip cut into her arm.

She cried out, trying to dodge.

"Pitiful girl," she bit off, snapping the whip as she closed in on her. "You never were good for much else besides working words into code. Nothing like Shisui; although, that's not really saying much. He was barely a match for me then.

"By comparison you're a joke."

Sasami glared up at her from where she lay, covered in dirt, dust, and mud. Red wasn't better off by comparison, but the brunette was getting tired.

She was better than this; she had to be.

For Isao.

For Shisui.

For her sister… her nephews.

For everyone Denzou had hurt.

"He had such raw talent," she went on. "I was even a little impressed he'd manage to nab the scroll and get it to you; that took skill. But, none of you were smart enough to realize we'd get it in the end.

"Although… after today the scroll won't matter. Everything every one of you has wasted your lives doing with be fruitless when Denzou takes the village and sets it to right."

"When you care enough about something it's never a waste," Sasami argued. "I rather be proud of myself for doing the right thing than hate myself for doing the wrong one."

Red scoffed under her mask, making a noise. "Right thing? Wrong thing? There are no such things in the shinobi world. There is only take or be taken; kill or be killed. You can't have ethics when it's about might makes right. Control usurps all. But, you wouldn't understand that.

"And that's the reason you fail; it's the reason you will today.

"Because being a shinobi isn't about what's _good_." The whip snapped again, dancing around Sasami and nearly grazing her just before she moved to stand and escape.

"We have to find a way to get Isao away from her clone," Sakura whispered to both men.

"I'm working on that; wait to see how this play out a bit longer though," Itachi murmured back.

She sighed.

"What do you have planned?" Sasuke asked, glancing over at the clone and his nephew some distance away.

"Nothing involving the Sharingan… that won't work, if you haven't noticed."

"I noticed."

"Then—."

"Just let me think, Sakura," Itachi interrupted softly, meeting her gaze. "Trust me."

She frowned at him, eyes narrowing. "I do. You know I do… I just…"

"I understand."

Suddenly, she felt fingers curing between hers and a firm grip on her hand, squeezing. Her eyes met Sasuke's and held.

"It won't happen that way. Quit thinking it will, Sakura."

"I'm not—."

"You are."

She sighed and closed her eyes; then, she turned back to the fight. "I'm a shinobi, a doctor, asking me to not think ahead to the worst scenario possible to mend the situation is like asking me to quick breathing.

"It just won't happen."

She kept bearing down her, slashing, cutting, barely missing her with the whip. Sasami had to bide her time, save her chakra, and think before she didn't something wasteful. Fire was obviously her element. Water was very minor. In the end, she could keep using the Sharingan to dodge her, one step ahead of her movements; once she wore down she could go in for the kill. Maybe…

Wait—!

Pain sliced up and around her, cutting and burning into her bound arms, her chest, her sides, her thighs and her calves. She fall, crashing onto the ground and into the mud with a smack, crying out loudly.

She looked up, grimacing.

She was wrapped in the whip. But… how?

"And that's why you fail; you never manage to see how far ahead I've planned this mousetrap, little code breaker."

There were two of them, she realized. She watched as Red took the fiery whip from the twin just before she poofed from existence.

"I placed that shadow clone underground during the fight earlier. No one even noticed. And now? Now it's too late. Now you die.

"Although… not before I have a little more fun with you."

Sasami could hear her laughter just over the pain that made her cry out again. The flames that coiled around burned brighter, cutting into her skin and tearing into her flesh. Tears rolled down her face as she arched her back, twisting to try and escape as a natural reaction.

She had to get away. She had to. It couldn't end like this… could it?

"Shisui looked just like this… although I didn't _burn_ him. That would have led to some questions… No, water was so much easier.

"But, he cried out just like you. Pity though… I couldn't _hear_ his screams under all that water crushing his and flooding his lungs."

She couldn't even respond. Really though… Shisui was a prodigy… If he couldn't… she clenched her eyes shut, her teeth ground together against the pain.

"Next, I'll have my hand with those two nephews of yours. I drag that out just for you." She was chuckling again, tightening the binding of the whip as she jerked on it. "Scream some more. I really want to enjoy this."

She could see their faces; they cut through the cloud of pain and reached out to her. She remembered when they'd been all she had left. That moment the morning after she'd identified her sister's body. She come back, hovering over their sleeping forms…

…And promised them she'd make a world for them where they wouldn't looking over their back every minute of every hour; where they could finally morn their mother, and not their aunt; where Itachi wouldn't be called a traitor.

"No," she whispered.

"I'm sorry… what was that?" She made a show of leaning in closer.

Sasami's eye flashed open. "I said… _No_." She twisted her hands together, ignoring the burning, the cutting into muscle and perhaps bone. Adrenalin set in and she formed several quick hand signs.

"What—!" She stepped back, moving to do something.

Sasami cried out the wind jutsu's name; the whip was cut to shreds almost immediately. Despite the pain, she stood up and moved as fast as she could. There was no time to be hesitant. She didn't have much chakra left, so if she wanted win this she'd have to get her right where she needed her.

She pulled the wakizashi off her back and dove at her, pressing as she slashed. In reaction, Red retaliated by pulling out her own, the standard issue every agent of ANBU, Root or not, carried.

Steel beat against steel; sparks broke between both and the deafening cry of metal grating metal echoed in Sasami's ears. "You'll lose," she whispered between the poignant strikes of her blade.

"And why do you say that?" she asked with a pant.

"Because you don't have as much to lose as I do. That's why bitches like you _always_ lose, Red." She could see hesitancy and stuck fast, slashing a wound across her chest just before she dropped her weapon and wove the signs.

"_Binding of the Unbroken Code!_"

From above Red came several metal circles. She gasped, looking up; however, she had no time to react. Her sword thumb against the ground as five ring came over her and paused just before shrining around her; they bound her as tightly as the whip and bound Sasami. Gears along the outside turned, clicked and locked in place.

"Call of the clone. I won."

"There's no need," she heard next to her.

The red and black faded to green a she look over to right, meeting Itachi's darker orbs. "We took care of it as soon as you had her down. I knew she'd never keep her end up; even if you won, she'd have just killed him with her last breath."

"It would have only taken one movement from her clone…" Sasami agreed tiredly, swaying.

"Thank you," she heard someone whisper… Sakura…? "We've got you; just while I tend these burns… It's over now… you brought justice to Shisui, Sasami.

"It's over."

Was it? Yes… it was.

* * *

**AN ::** So…. How many months? Who knows… almost three? Yeah, sounds about right. Took me a while. I actually wrote this chapter in three days though. Man, what a pain. I'm not even really happy with it. When are we ever happy with a chapter though? Meh. Sorry my update took forever. I have such a hard time plotting out fighting chapters, and this one had 6 villains and five good guys; I had to work it all out in my head.

Anyway, I'll update Nightingale within the week. Love you guys!

—**Blade**


	16. Chapter 15 & Epilogue

Chapter Fifteen

"Nurse, towel." Perspiration lined her brow, threatening to trickle until someone came up to her and wiped gently. She was up her elbows in blood; literally. But the worst was over. Vitals were a good and the wound was sealing nicely. He'd have some dressing to change every day, and a scar after; she couldn't really risk using all of her chakra on vanity when there had been so many others to tend to. He'd be the last for her for a long while hopefully. But, she still needed to walk home… not crash on a stretcher or a chair because of depletion (unexpectedly).

So many injured, so many dead, so many missing loved ones, and so many waiting and looking to her for guidance. It was the first time in her life she truly _felt_ the position she was in. Tsunade was Hokage, so that defaulted her and Shizune to the go-to directors for what went in and out of the hospital when things happened. But never before had anything happened on her watch this… huge. It'd been like a mini bomb had gone off in the village. A good quarter of it was gone from the battle Naruto had encountered with the Akatsuki—with Pein. No, Nagato. And Madara.

So much had happened.

It'd taken her at least a day to get the full details. In spurts people had told her what they knew. Shizune had filled her in the other pieces.

Everyone who'd lost their homes had been relocated to empty rooms or houses in the clan compounds; the Uchiha space, which had been barren and blocked off for almost all of Sasuke's life, was now filled to nearly the brim with dislocated families. She hadn't had a chance to ask him what he thought about that, but she couldn't imagine he was totally happy. For the past week she'd been on overdrive. If she wasn't stuffing her pie-hole or sleeping in a hospital bunk room, she was working on a bleeding patient. She'd lost some, saved some, and had to yell at quite a few wet-behind-the-ears doctors and nurses who didn't know how to handle a crisis.

She wanted to check on her friends, her son. But they were all busy as well. It had taken days to find some. More still had been still trapped under ruble until earlier today. She'd passed Neji in the hallway and asked him how the Hyuuga search and rescue was going. A huge weight had lifted knowing people were accounted for.

Naruto and Tsunade were dealing with the council; Denzou had been placed in a maximum security cell until everyone could settle just what had happened with Itachi and a formal trial could be held. Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about that, but word was from Shizune that it needed to happen if Itachi was ever to come back into the public eye. Currently, he was on house arrest with a full ANBU guard.

And Sasuke… all she really wanted to do was go home and crash into his arms and into her bed. Words didn't need to be there, just warmth. She was tired emotionally and just wanted twenty-four hours to herself. Internally, she didn't care how selfish it sounded. A mental break was important and required _soon_.

She gave a sigh as she stepped away from the patient. "All done. Do clean-up and find him a room. He needs quiet, so make sure he's not in a room with secondary or tertiary recoverees."

The nurse nodded. "Yes, Haruno-sama."

She nodded in return and pulled her gloves off, practically ripped off her mask and other covers as she exited the room.

Most of the Akatsuki were either dead or missing. Shizune told her Tsunade would fill her in later when things calmed down and proper briefing could be held with her and rest of Team Seven, including a few others. At the time the priority had been getting the village to an even calm and order. Sakura was fine with that, but she was hoping it'd happen soon. Limbo was not a place she liked to be.

…

**.**

…

Things were no longer quiet; no longer normal. There was noise everywhere. People were banging with hammers, grunting, shouting, lifting, and cementing things into place. Although, at least at night the whole place shut down. Shinobi had to be dispatched to make sure civilian kids didn't play around the equipment or the sites. Everyone was in a constant go. There was no time to pause. Until today he'd been on search and rescue duty with Neji and a few other Hyuuga. They needed every set of eyes that could see chakra to find anyone still trapped. That had been the priority. But, hours ago the last one had been pulled from under the debris. All of the crumbled rebar, wood, stone, concrete, and glass had been relocated. The dead had been accounted for, the sick and injured were being taken care of, and the worst was over.

But he wasn't a peace; there were still many loose ends to tie up.

He hadn't been able to see Sakura for a week. She'd been sleeping in the hospital out of necessity. He only went home when the search was called off for the day. And by the time he was done he just fell into his mattress, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

There'd been no time to see anyone, not even his nephew.

He was due for a break. Neji told him to take some personal time and he wasn't going to argue. He had things to do; and if Naruto and Sakura were too busy to chat, and the Hokage wasn't going to talk about any of _it_ until she called the meeting herself, then he had someone else he needed to speak with; someone who was on the top of his list next to Sakura.

He gave no indication of how he felt one or the other as he rounded the path and came up to a secluded house in the woods. It didn't look all the different from Sakura's, but it wasn't on a hill like hers.

He could sense the ANBU guards about, but they weren't hiding. He could feel a few of them tense up, chakra stir and flare a little, just to let him know they were there. None of them moved to stop him, but that's probably because they were too busy trying to figure out if he was on the list—if there was one. Then again, he doubted Tsuande would be stubborn enough to keep him away.

When no one stopped him as he came up to the door Sasuke knew there was nothing to worry about. He knocked.

The door opened to reveal someone in a red and white mask.

Sasuke raised a brow as the ANBU stepped aside and held the door open.

"He's upstairs." And then he stepped away.

Sasuke came in a shut the door, watching the agent walk away and back to his card game at a table in the center of the main room. Several other ANBU were seated around, playing.

"Second door on the right."

Without looking back, Sasuke ventured up. When he came on the door he knocked, waited, and then knocked again. When no answer came he opened the door slowly and stepped in.

He sat in the center of the floor. Legs crossed one under the other, eyes closed, and his hands clasped together in his lap. He was quiet—still. For a time, Sasuke just watched him... the man he lived in the shadow of… had for so long he couldn't recall what direct light looked like.

He was a little breathless for a moment, but then… something didn't feel right. Something in the air… it felt slanted.

"_Sharingan!_"

And then it all made sense. He wanted to bark laughter. For a moment he considered letting the agents know, but decided it wouldn't benefit him. Besides, his brother was nothing if not careful. Instead, he walked out of the house, mumbled that Itachi was sleeping as an excuse for his early departure, and zoomed across the village to find his brother. But, he had a feeling about where he might be.

A few minutes lost and a few inquiries later found Sasuke on the edge of a construction area where someone with a hard hat was barking out orders and a Jounin was addressing Genin. He found a mess of black hair in the group and spanned his visual field around. Blood-red mixed with ebony and he stopped, narrowed his gaze as he spotted something… someone on the top of a half crumbled building a few stories high. The first three floors were all that were left—mostly.

He moved through the crowd casually, slipped up the wall, and landed softly within.

Itachi didn't move. He just kept staring out the crumbled window opening, through the broken glass and down below at the small boy.

He didn't say anything, but Sasuke knew he knew he was there; he had to.

The younger Uchiha took a few steps forward and stopped about a yard away. If he were like Sakura, or old Sakura anyway, he'd make a joke. But, that just wasn't Sasuke, not when it came to Itachi.

"He has her eyes," Itachi said, surprising him enough that Sasuke's eyes widened only a fraction for a second.

He hesitated for a moment and then took the olive branch. "He's a smartass."

And then a smile quirked, a light chuckle never escaped his mouth. "Yes, I noticed. Like Sakura too, but he's more open about it."

He wasn't sure how he felt about that intimate knowledge. It stung. It shouldn't, not after all this time. But it did. Sasuke was still selfish; that part of him never wanted to think Sakura had been with anyone but him, even when the evidence snarked him right in the face with a snide comment and a smirk. But, he didn't see Isao that way anymore.

"I never imagined a scenario in my head where a child of mine existed… not after…"

Sasuke looked out the window, pitch orbs following the Genin team as they worked to help with the rebuilding process. He stepped forward, but still kept his distance.

"I don't know what to say to him."

Sasuke blinked in surprise at the admission. He was so taken aback that he looked over at his brother, only to find him staring at Sasuke with some raw emotion present and open in his eyes.

He swallowed. This just… And then words came. "I never imagined a scenario in my head where we weren't killing one another."

It was funny, but no one was laughing.

"_Why?_"

Itachi didn't look away; he didn't shut his eyes. He stared at Sasuke, same conflicting emotions plain as day in his eyes. He wasn't hiding, Sasuke realized. He had to then, but not now. This person he was staring at was his brother, not some wolf who tried to prove he hated him and only let him live for his technique.

"I did what I thought was best for you. I always have."

"I know," he replied, surprising himself with how much he believed it.

And then Itachi turned away from him and looked back down at Isao. "I thought he was yours, at first," he said. "When I saw him in the woods, eyes blazing. I thought he was yours and Sakura's."

Sasuke sighed and tension left him, tension he hadn't even known was there. He was beating himself up. Why had he never seen it before? Because he was blind to the martyr his brother was? Or because Itachi had always been so damned good at his job? Perhaps a little of both. "You can't hate yourself for something you didn't know."

"Shouldn't I? I can't imagine he's had an easy life, not with everyone knowing whose son he is. Nevermind what Sakura endured."

"Would you have wanted her to abort Isao? Lie about you?"

"I wouldn't have held it against her."

And that's really where they were different. Sasuke would have hated her for it, blamed her, scorned her. Itachi would have forgiven her, no matter how much it hurt him to do so. His jaw flexed.

And then it dawned on him that someone would have had to have told him…

"Who told you that—."

"You hear things, Sasuke. And I listen."

How could anyone be talking about Sakura or Isao in a crisis like this? Kami… And he shouldn't have found out this way. "Sakura's managed fine. So has Isao."

"And how did you manage?"

The meaning wasn't lost on him. He knew what Itachi was asking. And he hesitated, mostly because the first thing that came out of his mouth when his emotions were high was stupid. So he waited, thought about it, and replied. "I hated her," he said with a sigh, "I hated her a lot in the beginning. But, once he was born…" He let his gaze remain on the boy below, watching as he helped the Hyuuga teammate with a few four by fours. "What do you expect me to say? That I was nice to her? I was there for them. I took care of what you couldn't. Even when she kept it from me, even when she protected you and I hated her for that.

"I love her, Itachi. But that's always a double-edged sword for me—for her. I'm a bomb waiting to go off and she's still here with me. And I love her for that too." He kept on staring at the boy, his nephew.

"Kids change how you view life," he said quietly. "They make you second guess everything because you know they're watching you move."

And then Itachi smiled; he barely saw it out of the corner of one eye. "I know."

The words echoed through him and then he knew who his brother was talking about. The air changed and slanted, like the genjutsu earlier, only rawer. It hadn't changed because of chakra, but because of emotion. Sasuke felt his throat tighten, but he had to know. It wasn't like him to ask something... but nothing was ever the same with Itachi or Sakura as it was with anyone else. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?" It was stupid, he knew. And he knew the answer. But, he had to say it out loud. "Why not just… _why_…"

Itachi was looking at him again and he was looking right back.

His chest hurt with it all and somehow he stopped himself from reaching up and gripping his blue standard Jounin shirt just beneath the green vest, just between where it opened.

_There are no right or wrong choices when you are a shinobi, Sasuke. Only choices._

Her voice rang out in his head, but it didn't help. He felt robbed, and now the one person he used to blame couldn't be anymore. It was like his life had finally take a flip; no, it had already, but now his heart had to face it. It'd finally caught up with the information he'd had for a week.

A warm wetness rolled down his cheeks… once, twice, three times before he realized he was crying; his breathing was barely erratic and his hands shook as he stared down at them, breaking eye contact with his brother.

He'd never been good at dealing, after all.

Then there was warmth; an embrace coiling around him. It should have suffocated him, but instead he felt lighter. That freedom expanded as he let go—finally. Tears exploded as he shut his eyes and drowned his face in rough-soft cotton of his chest, exhaling and gasping for air.

"I love you, Sasuke."

…

**.**

…

Somewhere just outside a window ledge on the crumbling building a silver-haired Jounin, former ANBU, shifted and stilled.

Tsunade's summons could wait a while… it's not like she ever expected him to be _on time_ anyway, right?

…

**.**

…

Sakura sighed, hand in her palm elbow resting on the arm of the chair. Everything was silent as Tsunade finished reading through their reports. Every now and then she stopped and asked a question, hummed to herself curiously, or narrowed her eyes. The last to come through door for the summons were Sasuke and Itachi. She'd glanced up, a little surprised, but didn't say anything. Tsunade had made it pretty clear she wanted quiet until she was done processing it all. So, here they all sat or stood: Sasuke, Itachi, Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, and Shizune. Isao hadn't been asked in and for that Sakura was happy. She wanted to talk him herself, not put him in the middle of a classified meeting. Regardless of what he knew, Isao was still a Genin.

"Alright, well, Naruto and I have read everything now," the blonde finally addressed them as she set some papers back in a folder and closed it shut.

The pinkette looked up Naruto, who sat next to Tsuande and only off to the side slightly. He hadn't quite caught her off guard just then by staring at her, but she was a little embarrassed by the emotion present in his blue eyes.

"This is a lot to take in, especially after what happened earlier this week. Everyone has a lot to deal with without putting all of this," she said, waving her hand at the pile of papers and folders before her, "out in the open as well."

Sakura's eyes narrowed and she felt Sasuke tense up next to her.

"What are you suggesting, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked from where he leaned back against the wall on the far left of the room.

Tsuande sighed and sat back. "First, I have to speak with all the clan heads. They have a right to know what's going on before we make any kind of statement. Second, a trial will need to be held. Denzou is an important figure, and adding more secrecy to this matter will only add to the distrust.

"We can't just punish him in secret. And I doubt any of you want that."

"It wouldn't be right," Naruto agreed.

As much as Sakura wanted to see the Root leader's head cut and served to her, Sasuke, and Itachi on a silver platter, Sakura could concede that was her emotional side talking.

"The village has stabilized. Or, at the very least, it's as stable as it can get for a while. So, I'll hold a meeting with the clan heads, then we'll announce a trial. In the meantime, Itachi has to stay out of sight. If anyone were to see him who wasn't in the know…"

"It could cause a riot," Itachi murmured.

"Exactly. Just give me a few days. Then you can come out in the open. I can't promise it'll be with big open arms from everyone… but, the trial will help you in that matter."

Itachi nodded.

"Is there anything else anyone needs to say?" she asked, amber hues scanning the room and each occupant. When no one said anything she nodded.

"Go home, get some sleep, eat, and don't go into work tomorrow. Especially you, Sakura," she said, hard eyes on her ex-student.

"That's an order."

Sakura smile faintly, nodding she stood up.

"Dismissed."

She stretched as other left ahead of her, yawning from being so stagnant for in one seat for a while.

"Sakura."

She stopped and looked over at her blue-eyed teammate, one brow raised.

"Can I talk to you?"

She nodded and Tsunade stopped in front of her. She almost jumped at the hand on her shoulder and met her mentor's golden gaze.

"I've never been more proud of your stubborn determination. I hope you know that."

Sakura couldn't speak and didn't as the woman walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"You ok?"

She turned to meet Naruto's gaze next, watching as he leaned back onto the desk, arms crossed over his chest. He leveled a mature, knowing look on her.

"A lot better," she admitted. "What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She blinked.

"This whole time I knew there was more to it; you wouldn't have endured it otherwise. But you could have told me."

She sighed and looked down. "We were sixteen, Naruto. You were still…"

"Headstrong? A firecracker?"

"Yes."

"And later?"

She gave him a look. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm mad at myself for not being able to be there," he said, voice heavy. "Sakura, we're a team. You, me, Sasuke…. That's never going to change. I know it can be hard to come to him… but you should never be afraid to tell us what's going on. We'll always believe you."

She smiled faintly. "I was sixteen too," she admitted. "And it was a high stakes game, you know. It wasn't just about trust. I didn't want you involved if it went bad for me…"

"We're high stakes friends, Sakura," he told her as he closed the distance between them.

"I know…" she murmured looking down.

"Look… after everything that happened with Sasuke, Itachi, you, and the village… We can't afford not be honest with each in the future. I'm going to be Hokage and we all need people we can trust.

"I have that with you and the rest of Team Seven, Sakura. Just remember that the next time.

"Please."

She smiled. "Well, the next time I become pregnant with the enemy, who it turns out isn't the enemy, and have to prove he's really innocent, all while dodging Root… I'll be sure to let you know."

Naruto chuckled, face breaking out into a grin. "Good."

…

**.**

…

Sakura went through all the things she had to do in her head, all the people she needed to talk to. Ino was sure to barge in at some point when she had a break, demanding to know how she was doing. The Yamanaka girl had barely said hello to her in hospital at some point when she was helping bring people in; however, she'd made sure to tell her when both of them caught a breath they'd have coffee and eat sweets. She wouldn't argue. Naruto wanted to have ramen with her soon. Kakashi had given her a look during the meeting that said they'd be talking as soon as _he_ got a break. Being a jack-of-all-trades forced Kakashi in twenty different directions at once when a crisis happened.

And Sasuke… she just missed his touch.

But the one person she wasn't thinking about right then—which surprised her—was the only person looking at her when she came through front door of her home.

"Itachi," she murmured as she paused, door still in her barely-there grasp and open.

He didn't say anything, just looked at her. She held that gaze, riveted and unable to move.

There were so many things left unsaid, so many things she'd said to him in her head already, so many tears she'd shed when no one else knew, and there were so many times she looked at Sasuke for those first few months and saw a piece of him reflected in the pitch of that gaze. But, now it wasn't a reflection; the eyes she looked into _were_ Itachi's.

Now that she had a chance to breathe, it was so surreal to see him in anything but that poisonous cloak. She often wondered when she thought he was dead… would Isao look like this when he grew up, the only thing betraying that echo his eyes?

There was a part of her heart that ached, constricted, and expanded at the sight of him.

"Escape your guards again?" she asked, saying something finally and breaking the spell. A small smile appeared as she leaned back into the door and listened to it click into the place.

He returned one, just barely. "That could be one way of looking at it."

Not sure what to say just yet, or how to continue the conversation, Sakura pushed off the door and slipped past him slowly into the kitchen. She could feel his eyes on her, but somehow that was a comfort more than anything else. It was so… weird, him being there. The feeling just kept going through her again and again like a ripple.

She reached up into a cabinet. "You want something to drink? I've got juice and I think a few cans of pop…"

"Thank you, but I'm fine without."

She nodded and pulled out just one before going over to the fridge, opening it, and peaking in. She grabbed the bottle of blue-something… or other. Probably some sugar fruit drink Isao made up…

She glanced over at him as she set her cup on the island in the middle of the room and began to pour. "So… did you come over to say hi?"

"I saw Sasuke today."

"Well, of course, we all met up at Tsunade's—."

"No, I mean he tracked me down… by himself."

Sakura capped the bottle of blue juice off and set it aside. "How'd that go?"

He looked away and to the side. His arms crossed over his chest.

Sakura waited a while, watching him silently. He didn't appear distraught… If anything, he looked like he was still trying to figure it out for himself.

Carefully, she stepped around to the other side of the island and toward him. Deft fingers reached out and rested carefully on his arm. "Itachi?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure how to make it right, Chīsana Hana…"

And Sakura sighed, long and hard.

"I know what you're going to say," he replied as he turned to look at her. "But it's not just Sasuke.

"Our son…"

She nodded. "Time, Itachi. It will take _time_. Sasuke, I imagine, will come around faster and easier than you think. He's missed you; now that he knows it's not _you_… well, he'll have his closure after the trial.

"As for Isao…" Her lips parted slightly and she looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "That's mostly on you. But, he's young—twelve—not totally an adult yet. Yes, you missed out on the cute years. But, it's never too late.

"You have to know that."

He nodded. "And you?"

She smiled, warmly and squeezed his arm. "I'm happy you're alive."

He smiled softly again.

"Now," she began, sounding as though she was going to start a new topic, "Have you spoken to Sasami yet? Or are playing avoidance on that one?"

Somehow, she resisted the urge to chuckle as a faint blush tinged his cheeks.

…

**.**

…

She made tea a little later as they talked and the sun began to set. The pinkette had to admit, it was nice to see a side of Itachi that wasn't showing itself because they both might die.

They talked about her and Sasuke, about Isao, and about his life before the amnesia… before the fight with his brother. They talked about Sasami, Rukia, and Shisui.

It hadn't been easy for him, loving his best friend's wife. But, that seemed his lot in life—at least to Sakura. The eldest Uchiha always ended up sacrificing his own personal good for the good of others.

"I'm home!" The screen door slammed shut, banging against the frame.

She smiled at Isao. "Long day?" He looked like hell. Brown smudges marred his face, a scratch or two here or there, and there was a tear in his pants.

He grinned at her, not seeming to notice Itachi just yet. "Yeah, sorta. We ended up having a match. But then Shikamaru-sensei caught us and complained about us being a bother." He rolled his eyes. "I ate though. He took us over to Ino-san's house.

"Chouji was cooking."

"Far more exciting than mine," she admitted mildly as she stood and gathered up the dishes on the coffee table; they'd relocated to the living room. "I think I'm going to take a hot bath and head to bed." She looked over at Itachi as he helped her, placing the tea pot on the tray in her hands. "You're welcome to stay a while longer."

She glanced over at Isao. "Unless you have something else to do?" She was giving him an out; regardless of how she felt about it… she wouldn't force him to talk to Itachi. He'd do it when he was ready, she knew.

Bright greens that matched her own glanced over at Itachi. "…I don't, no."

She smiled as a small sense of relief filled her. "Well good. I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you get some sleep, alright? We'll both have a lot to do tomorrow still."

"I know. I will," he agreed, eyes never once leaving the older Uchiha.

Sakura dropped the tray off in the kitchen and then slipped upstairs, exhaling in relief just before another smile crept in. Her fingers ran across the wall, tapping lightly in a happy tune as she came up to her door. It clicked closed behind her and she switched the light on.

"First a shower and then… sleep," she murmured to herself. And then she blinked as she looked up and at someone stretched across her bed. Her brow rose, looking quizzical; then, she smiled and a little chuckle escaped the passage of her lips.

She eased down on the mattress and placed one arm on the other side of his body, trapping him. "Hey…" she whispered… waiting. "Sasuke…" she said next, voice just as soft next to his ear.

She kissed his temple, smile still in place. "I love you." She waited again, but when no movement came she eased up and moved to cross—.

And suddenly found herself under a one Uchiha Sasuke…

…being kissed senseless.

…

**.**

…

…Epilogue…

_Six months later…_

"Here's to two happy saps I know! You guys deserve it!"

"And all the misery that goes with it?" Kakashi offered over his shoulder as he tapped his glass against Naruto's.

The blonde frowned and glanced over at him. "Just because _you_ avoid marriage like you avoid being on time, doesn't mean it's bad for the rest of us."

The silver-haired Jounin grinned. "No, just bad for me.

"Cheers." He clicked glasses again as Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Cheers!" everyone shouted, drank, and laughed.

"I'm going to go get more," she whispered to Sasuke. "Plus, your brother looks lonely."

"I'll keep an eye on Naruto."

She chuckled, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and stepped away, heading towards the bar.

He wasn't talking to anyone, but the bar tender slid him another drink. Sakura took the opportunity to flag him before he wandered off to help someone else—probably Anko. That woman could drink anyone under the table, including Genma. "One more? The same thing," she offered before he asked. As he wandered off with a nod she turned to Itachi.

"You have this awful habit of claiming the darkest corner of the room when Sasami isn't around. You know that, right?"

He smiled at her. "Old habits die hard.

"How are you enjoying the festivities?"

Typical of him to change the topic. She rolled her eyes. "It wasn't even my idea. Naruto insisted on celebrating the announcement. Tsunade insisted on setting up a wedding _date_. And all we wanted to do was sign paperwork and be done with it.

"You don't bother with a wedding when you're not young anymore, not when you're a shinobi. Not when you're talking about me and Sasuke. It's just… silly.

"But…" she exhaled out, "she seemed to think it'll be good for the village. Something bright and beautiful to offset all the bad that happened before. I suggested if she wanted that she should just name Naruto Hokage. People would forget about the other stuff quickly then."

Itachi chuckled. "I take it your suggestion didn't go over well?"

"Not well at all," she agreed. "So, now I'm stuck planning this stupid thing. If I didn't think Ino would ruffle the whole thing up in girly pinks, whites, and purples, I'd let her do it."

He was still smiling and she could tell he wanted to laugh. "It won't be so bad."

"I know," she sighed out, nodding at the bartender as he dropped off her drink.

"You're happy, admit it."

Her lips quirked at the corner and she looked over at his brother, her fiancé. She suddenly thought about all those things she was all those years ago. All those things that made her love one little boy, that made her ache for the man he was today. "I am… just not for the same reasons as I wanted to be then."

He nodded then.

She stared at Sasuke a moment longer, letting the quiet pass between her and Itachi. "So…"

"Hm?"

"Did you ever think it would come to this all those years ago? Could you have ever imagined a picture in your head like this? With all of us? Happy?"

It was his turn to be quiet as he watched the same picture she did, of all the men and women at the table, and as he imagined the boy who was too young to be there that night with them all. He was the only thing missing to the mended scene in front of him.

And then he spoke, "I don't think in a million years I ever expected it… no." He looked over at her and met her gaze. "I didn't ever imagine a future where my brother and I were happy and at peace, where I had a beautiful son, or where I could actually pursue a relationship with a woman I never thought I'd be good enough for."

Her eyes were soft.

"Thank you."

Her tiny smile was a waver, and he could see tears just gathering at the corners of her eyes. She sighed, closed her eyes, and wiped them carefully. He waited as she gathered herself, knowing she needed that moment for herself.

She was looking away again at the table of friends, composed. "I didn't either, you know. I never thought one moment and unplanned meeting would cause such a drastic change in our lives. I'm grateful for it.

"I wouldn't have any of this without it."

"It's amazing how one moment changes your life."

"It is."

…End…

* * *

**AN :: **And that's it! Finally. X,x Good god, that took forever.

I really hope this chapter didn't seem too short in places or too rushed. There was a lot to cover. It wasn't as though I had these two key characters with this relationship that needed to be solved; like, just Sasuke and Itachi with a little side of Sakura. No, this had a lot. Most of it stemmed around Itachi. So, I tried to tie things up the best way I could, as smoothly as I could without adding a bunch of unneeded extra dialogue. Just enough that you got the picture and could fill in the rest yourself.

I especially didn't think the conversation between Itachi and Isao was important. That would have required a lot of unneeded drama itself. And honestly, this isn't a story about Isao and Itachi more that it is a romance-love-triangle-thing between Sakura, Sasuke, and Itachi.

Why did I do what I did with the loose ends for Sakura and Sasuke? Well, because they were resolved. They were ok. She just really needed to tell him she loved him xD. And I thought it was a cute way to wrap them up without dragging it out.

Why did I end it with Itachi and Sakura talking? Well… because that's how the story started—with Sakura and Itachi. So, I thought it only natural it end with them reflecting on where that endeavor landed them. Not together, because this isn't a Sakura/Itachi story… no… _happy._

Thank for reading, reviewing, and loving every moment. Or, ya know, _hating_ it. Whatever works for you guys. -grins- Happy Holidays! Be sure to check me out on facebook under the facebook url; after the com be sure to put a back slash and the name KitRoe. Easy as that. I've got some original fiction in the works and I'd love you to read that too.

—**Blade**


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